Conservation and crime convergence? Situating the 2018 London Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference

The 2018 London Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) Conference was the fourth and biggest meeting on IWT convened at the initiative of the UK Government. Using a collaborative event ethnography, we examine the Conference as a site where key actors defined the problem of IWT as one of serious crime that needs to be addressed as such. We ask (a) how was IWT framed as serious crime, (b) how was this framing mobilized to promote particular policy responses, and (c) how did the framing and suggested responses reflect the privileging of elite voices? Answering these questions demonstrates the expanding ways in which thinking related to crime and policing are an increasingly forceful dynamic shaping conservation-related policy at the global level. We argue that the conservation-crime convergence on display at the 2018 London IWT Conference is characteristic of a conservation policy landscape that increasingly promotes and privileges responses to IWT that are based on legal and judicial reform, criminal investigations, intelligence gathering, and law enforcement technologies. Marginalized are those voices that seek to address the underlying drivers of IWT by promoting solutions rooted in sustainable livelihoods in source countries and global demand reduction. We suggest that political ecology of conservation and environmental crime would benefit from greater engagement with critical criminology, a discipline that critically interrogates the uneven power dynamics that shape ideas of crime, criminality, how they are politicized, and how they frame policy decisions. This would add further conceptual rigor to political ecological work that deconstructs conservation and environmental crime

Patterns, Trends, and Issues of Illicit Wildlife Hunting and Trade: Analysis Based on African Environmental Ethics

The creation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1973 has significantly altered the dynamics of trade in fauna and flora. Despite this effort, curbing of criminal trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora has remained a key challenge for some countries. The objective of this study was to identify and establish the trafficking routes of illegal wildlife and forest products, analyzing the patterns and trends of wildlife and forest crime including their drivers, actors and modus operandi, and assessing the criminal justice response including the legislative, enforcement, prosecutorial and judicial systems. The analysis was based on the methodologies and principles embedded in African environmental ethics. It was concluded that African ethics allows for ‘sustainable poaching’ under the framework of Eco-Afrocentricism; but condemns poaching done for trafficking purposes. Five canons of sustainability were developed to guide ‘sustainable poaching’. African capitalism thesis was used to support the analysis from political and economic perspectives

Wildbook: Crowdsourcing, computer vision, and data science for conservation

Photographs, taken by field scientists, tourists, automated cameras, and incidental photographers, are the most abundant source of data on wildlife today. Wildbook is an autonomous computational system that starts from massive collections of images and, by detecting various species of animals and identifying individuals, combined with sophisticated data management, turns them into high resolution information database, enabling scientific inquiry, conservation, and citizen science. We have built Wildbooks for whales (flukebook.org), sharks (whaleshark.org), two species of zebras (Grevy's and plains), and several others. In January 2016, Wildbook enabled the first ever full species (the endangered Grevy's zebra) census using photographs taken by ordinary citizens in Kenya. The resulting numbers are now the official species census used by IUCN Red List: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/7950/0. In 2016, Wildbook partnered up with WWF to build Wildbook for Sea Turtles, Internet of Turtles (IoT), as well as systems for seals and lynx. Most recently, we have demonstrated that we can now use publicly available social media images to count and track wild animals. In this paper we present and discuss both the impact and challenges that the use of crowdsourced images can have on wildlife conservation.Comment: Presented at the Data For Good Exchange 201

Crime scripting: A systematic review

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version.More than two decades after the publication of Cornish’s seminal work about the script-theoretic approach to crime analysis, this article examines how the concept has been applied in our community. The study provides evidence confirming that the approach is increasingly popular; and takes stock of crime scripting practices through a systematic review of over one hundred scripts published between 1994 and 2018. The results offer the first comprehensive picture of this approach, and highlights new directions for those interested in using data from cyber-systems and the Internet of Things to develop effective situational crime prevention measures

Linking local people's perception of wildlife and conservation to livelihood and poaching alleviation : a case study of the Dja biosphere reserve, Cameroon

This Paper examines how people's livelihoods and perceptions of wildlife are related to self-reported poaching (here defined as commercial bushmeat hunting) in 25 villages at the northern buffer zone of the Dja Biosphere Reserve, East Cameroon. Using a six-point Likert scale questionnaire among 263 households interviewed form March to June 2017, the following hypothesis were tested: (1) Households with positive perceptions of wildlife are less involved in poaching; (2) Positive perceptions of wildlife are linked to sustainable livelihood improvement of households; and (3) Sustainable livelihood improvement of households leads to poaching alleviation. The study area has been the site since 2010 for a community-centered conservation Program that aims to improve local peoples livelihoods (through the creation of income sources based on cocoa-based agroforestry and Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) Valorization) and their perceptions of wildlife (mainly through awareness raising and wildlife education) and therefore divert them from poaching. The main findings of the study indicates that positive perceptions of wildlife are linked to lower levels of poaching. Similarly, positive perception of wildlife was positively related to Livelihood improvement of the respondents. However, livelihood improvement alone did not predict poaching alleviation though we reported a significant difference in poaching frequencies of cocoa and non-cocoa producers with the firsts less involved in poaching. The findings of this study recommend more holistic approaches of biodiversity conservation that integrate simultaneously perception and livelihood improvement

A Gap in Causation? Punishing Polluters for Contributing to Climate Change & Increasing Violent Crime

Climate change will lead to an increase in violent crime. More rapes and violent felonies occur during the warm summer months than in cooler temperatures. As climate change progresses, there will be longer summers, higher temperatures, and thus, more violent crime. This Note examines whether American sanctions of environmental crimes that contribute to climate change should become more stringent given what we now know about the violent consequences of climate change. Part II of this Note describes the history and scientific evidence which proves that rising temperatures increase the rate of violent crimes. Part III reviews current regulations that deal with environmental crimes. Part IV suggests alternatives for how the government can combat environmental crimes that contribute to climate change and damage the public well-being. There is a causal link between environmental crimes and climate change. Further, climate change increases the rate of violent wrongdoings. Thus, the perpetrators of environmental crimes must be punished for the long-term effects of their actions: the increased rates of violent crimes. Part V analyzes the most realistic regulations and punishment schemes to promote conservation and public health. While there are many causes of climate change and greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions, this Note refers to the every-day use of aerosol cans as an example when proposing how to handle the global problem of climate change. Finally, Part VI acknowledges some difficulties and consequences of the author’s analysis, but still presents an alternative framework for further inquiry into these issues