About the Author: Jessica Graham serves as Senior Advisor in the Anti-Crime Programs Office of the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

Wildlife trafficking is a crime that spans the globe, giving criminals billions of dollars in illegal proceeds, driving endangered species closer toward extinction, and fueling corruption. Now the international community has new tools to fight this crime. The UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ, or UN Crime Commission) in Vienna overwhelmingly adopted a resolution on April 26, jointly introduced by the United States and Peru, to classify wildlife trafficking as a “serious crime” as defined by the UN Convention on Transnational Organized Crime. The resolution is a recognition on the part of Member States that law enforcement is an essential component in combating wildlife trafficking. The resolution helps unlock international law enforcement cooperation, provided under the Convention, including mutual legal assistance, asset seizure and forfeiture, extradition,… more »

About the Author: Tara D. Sonenshine serves as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.

March has been a good month for wildlife. 

At its annual meeting, held in Bangkok, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) voted to place new trade limits on sharks, mantas, and turtles for the first time in nearly a decade. 

This is an important step in countering a fishing trade that claims the lives of 100 million sharks a year. There is also widespread fishing of mantas, in response to strong demand in Asia — where many believe mantas’ gill plates have invigorating medicinal qualities. Turtles have existed for 300 million years but are now in serious trouble around the world as they are frequently used as food and in traditional medicines in Asia, and their use in the pet trade… more »

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivers a video message for Wildlife Conservation Day. A text transcript can be found at http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2012/12/199996.htm.

About the Author: Tara Sonenshine serves as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.

We are calling it Wildlife Conservation Day — a special day on December 4 to help raise global awareness and bring attention an online pledge campaign to protect wildlife by changing consumer behavior. And it follows the State Department’s continuing commitment to draw attention to the dangers of wildlife trafficking.

In October, I convened a meeting with members of the wildlife NGO community to explore ways in which we can use social media and public diplomacy to send the world powerful messages about the importance of safeguarding wildlife — as well as wildlife and the serious implications wildlife trafficking has for the security and prosperity of people around the… more »

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivers remarks at the Partnership Meeting on Wildlife Trafficking at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., November 8, 2012. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]

About the Author: Tara Sonenshine serves as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.

We can do more to build public awareness about the destructive ramifications of wildlife trafficking.

That was the key rallying point at a meeting that I convened recently with members of the wildlife NGO community — all of them working in different ways to address trafficking, whether through lobbying governments, supporting law enforcement efforts, building awareness campaigns, or working with partners to create change.

In this, I was joined by Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Robert Hormats, and Kerri-Ann Jones, Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International… more »

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivers remarks at the Partnership Meeting on Wildlife Trafficking at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. on November 8, 2012. A text transcript can be found at http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2012/11/200294.htm.

About the Author: Robert D. Hormats serves as Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton hosted a discussion this morning with foreign diplomats, government officials, civil society leaders, and business representatives on illegal wildlife trafficking and animal conservation. Protection of endangered species such as elephants, rhinos, and tigers do not immediately conjure up images of diplomacy in action. So it’s fair to ask why the Secretary of State is interested in wildlife and convening this high-level meeting. The answer is multifaceted and has broad foreign policy implications.

The U.S. Department of State has a long and proud history in supporting wildlife conservation. In 1916, then-Secretary of State Robert Lansing signed with his British counterpart (representing Canada) a treaty to protect birds that migrate between…more »