An Overview Of Our Solution
Our mission is to contribute to the prevention and eradication of illegal wildlife trafficking through research, education, networking and the contribution of knowledge and information. We train actors in charge of control and supervision at the national level, essential for the investigation of this complex crime from an interdisciplinary perspective. Working together with collaborators from all over the country, we managed to recover animals victims of trafficking that were later released. We carry out talks and workshops aimed at the community, oriented towards knowledge and enhancement of fauna, emphasizing those species that are victims of illegal trafficking in each particular region. We generate communication and dissemination campaigns to encourage the role of society as an active participant in the solution.
- Population Impacted:
- Continent: South America
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Context Analysis
Illegal wildlife trafficking, coupled with habitat loss and the introduction of invasive alien species, is driving many species to extinction. Worldwide, it occupies one of the first positions within the main illegal activities, after the sale of arms and drugs. It is estimated that this trade moves around USD 20 billion annually. Added to other illegal activities that are frequently frequent, such as money laundering, corruption and document falsification.
In our country, a large part of the illegally captured wild animals has the pet market and/or private collections as their final destination. The main points of sale are fairs, veterinarians and pet shops, e-commerce sites and social networks. In turn, skins, leather and other by-products are in great demand, both nationally and internationally.
It is estimated that nine out of ten captured individuals die in transit before being sold due to poor conditions (overcrowding, lack of food, etc.) from the moment they are captured, transported and arrive at the point of sale. This, in turn, has serious consequences for public health, since trafficked animals can transmit serious diseases to humans.
There is a large number of different hierarchical regulations that ensure the protection of fauna. However, this scourge of biodiversity continues to decline due to lack of knowledge and that this problem is not taken as State policy.
It is essential to make this problem known to all control agencies and communities to protect and conserve biodiversity.
Describe the technical solution you wanted the target audience to adopt
Conserving nature implies knowing it, understanding it and connecting with it. We seek to bring different audiences closer to it and show how the petting of wildlife leads to the loss of biodiversity and affects our health. We carry out workshops, congresses and trainings aimed at enhancing the value of the fauna of our country, with a special focus on the victims of illegal trafficking. From primary actors as control forces; as well as municipalities, veterinarians, teachers and students. We want people to view the possession of wild animals negatively and denounce their sale. And we try to ensure that the security forces can identify the trafficked species and manage to handle them safely so that they reach the rescue centers, to be rehabilitated and then introduced into their environment. We seek to reach both wildlife extraction regions and the main urban centers where illegal trade occurs.
Describe your behavioral intervention.
The experience and reliable information that we can provide from our hundred-year-old NGO will ensure that the public has the necessary tools to carry out actions that mitigate illegal trafficking. From different parts of the country we have been summoned to publicize and advise local communities and thus be able to propose future solutions. That is why we set out to train both citizens and members of the government so that they themselves generate and evaluate different proposals, according to what corresponds in their region, based on their reality and possibilities.
We collaborate with the empowerment of communities through information, which helps to generate pressure in the State to make decisions and, additionally, we are involved in the training of state agencies, who must have the tools to address the problem .
Behavioral Levers Utilized
As needed, please explain how you utilized the lever(s) in more detail.
We seek to generate a feeling of identification and belonging to the natural heritage since it is not possible to take care of what is not known, thus provoking pride and motivation to originate future actions.
We carry out training aimed at different audiences where we work on identifying the problem, we share information and look for possible solutions within the area in which we are working, either from the civil community or from state agencies.
We provide wildlife management tools to control agents.
We generate graphic material to address the problem.
Socially we seek that within the communities there is knowledge, information and possible solutions that allow them to bring strategies before different organizations (civil, academic, governmental) to be able to replicate them.
We generate commitment in citizens in making complaints.
Describe your implementation
We generate meeting spaces such as workshops, training sessions and talks to the community where we present the problem, offer possible measures and improve society to have an active role as part of the solution.
We provide teachers with different tools necessary to work on the subject in the classroom and in the community by developing graphic and digital material. We show the importance of their role as multiplying agents in this subject and the need to introduce the subject in the school curriculum, permanently and at all educational levels.
We train control agencies in different parts of the country, collaborate with complaints and investigations, and generate reference material such as management manuals and species identification guides.
We also participate in events related to biodiversity and we have carefully organized the "Más Vale Volando" event for eight years , where we address Wildlife Trafficking from awareness, citizen participation, art and also in a playful way, through the outings of bird watching and the planting of native species, an event that is replicated in different parts of the country, with the slogan that the best way to enjoy wild birds, and fauna in general, is to observe them in freedom.
We generate graphic material aimed at all audiences and we carry out campaigns on our social networks (more than 190,000 followers) in order to reach the largest number of people possible.
Due to the lack of official statistical information, we generate different research reports on the sale of wildlife on social networks, and also on seizures and rescues carried out in the country. These reports are delivered to the corresponding authorities.
Describe the leadership for your solution. Who is leading the implementation?
The Illegal Wildlife Trafficking Program has been led since 2014 by M. Cecilia Maqueda, a graduate in Biological Sciences who coordinates a team of volunteers of different ages and professions. Among them, Field Naturalists, Technicians in Conservation, Use and Control of Natural Resources, Graduates in Environmental Sciences, Graduates in Communication and Veterinarians. This allows us to cover the subject with great professionalism and experience, from how to communicate the problem, its ecological implications, to advice on wildlife management and inter-institutional efforts. Each of them being able to incorporate, with their knowledge and experience, the best strategies to face the team's work and thus be able to meet the objectives.
Share some of the key partners or stakeholders engaged in your solution development and implementation.
The Bird Observers Clubs are from groups and members of Aves Argentinas that work for the conservation of birds and their environments, carrying out all kinds of activities aimed at bird watching and environmental education throughout the country. Many of these clubs work on the problem of wildlife trafficking at the local level, show awareness and management actions. Some of them have even managed to work together with municipalities to create regulations that protect local fauna.
We also have a link with institutions and NGOs dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of wildlife, such as Fundación Caburé-í and Temaiken, with extensive experience and seriousness.
We made a collaboration agreement with the Public Prosecutor's Office of the City of Buenos Aires. Within this framework, we advise and give workshops for members of the Specialized Fiscal Unit for Environmental Matters (UFEMA) and we collaborate with different complaints. Said Prosecutor's Office has followed the number of cases related to this problem in recent years.
We also have an agreement with the College of Magistrates and employees of the Judiciary of the City of Buenos Aires. We work in constant contact with the Environmental Crimes Division of the Argentine Federal Police and with the Fauna Directorates of different provinces.
We are convinced of how valuable and necessary red work is to be able to face this type of problem for all the facets it entails.
Who adopted the desired behavior(s) and to what degree? Include an explanation of how you measured a change in behavior.
2,200 people participated in workshops to learn about the problem and the strategies to combat it.
We reached more than 500 teachers and students, important actors in their role as multipliers within the school community. Those who organized their own workshops and dissemination campaigns, participated in releases of rehabilitated specimens, destroyed rubber trees and organized bird watching outings. The same happened with the 200 veterinary students and graduates.
We accompany more than 300 COA members, who play a fundamental role in the dissemination and management of actions in their respective locations.
We train more than 1,500 members of different forces and judicial personnel. In this period of joint work, the number of complaints increased, which led to a large number of rescued animals.
10 campaigns carried out on social networks reached an average of 25 thousand people each.
We received more than 1,500 queries and requests for advice on making complaints.
How did you impact the environment (biodiversity conservation, ecosystems, etc.)? Please be specific and include measurement methodology where relevant.
Hundreds of wildlife individuals were rescued and rehabilitated and released thanks to networking. We provided records of illegal sales at the Pompeii Fair to the CABA Environmental Prosecutor's Office and provided training for their team. After the investigative work, raids and recovery of specimens together, it was planned to discourage the sale in the place. Actions accompanied by an artistic mural and awareness talks for the citizens who frequented the place.
In recent years, said prosecutor's office has worked on 36 investigations that led to the rescue of more than 2,000 confiscated specimens, many of them recovered and released in their natural distribution area.
More than 1,000 specimens were rescued by the Federal Police, where we intervened in some of the complaints and in the releases.
In conjunction with the Yellow Cardinal Program, more than 200 individuals of this threatened species have been recovered in recent years.
How has your solution impacted equity challenges (including race, ethnicity, social class/income, indigenous communities, or others)?
With the intention of changing hunting habits as one of the means of livelihood, generally in rural or low-income communities, we work on the benefits of bird watching not only to care for the environment but also as an alternative to driving development for a sustainable economy. For example, nature-based tourism that generates development opportunities for regional economies becomes a source of income for local communities, taking advantage of the resources that nature provides and that are ideal for generating work and inclusion in a sustainable and harmonious with the environment.
What were some sustainable development co-benefits?
One of the consequences of illegal trafficking is its impact on public health. Captured individuals suffer mistreatment (overcrowding, lack of food), leading them to acquire diseases communicable to humans. Knowing the pets allowed and the responsibility for them is key to preventing and caring for public health. We also train control forces in wildlife management so that they have the basic tools when it comes to handling it.
Sustainability: Describe the economic sustainability of your solution.
We have more than 3,000 members who with their contribution accompany us in the conservation of birds and their natural environments, helping us to protect the wild areas of our country through conservation and education.
On certain occasions different Municipalities, Faculties or COA have been the ones who paid the expenses so that they could carry out actions in their localities, being the hosts of various events.
However, in order to replicate and expand our work, reaching more regions, locations, and the public, it is necessary to have more funds to cover travel, per diem, and material costs.
Return on investment: How much did it cost to implement these activities? How do your results above compare to this investment?
The cost of the sum of the activities carried out in all these years is difficult to determine since part of it has been thanks to the contribution of our partners, and another part was covered by initiatives of other actors (COA, Faculties, Municipalities, Government, etc.) . However, it should be clarified that the activities carried out do not require a high investment cost, but it is necessary to have resources to be able to cover a greater number of public and be constant over time.
How could we successfully replicate this solution in Latin America?
Latin America is one of the regions with the highest extraction of wildlife for the international illegal market. It is important to make this problem known in order to carry out preventive actions. Only trained personnel are required to be able to replicate the message and the basic expenses of mobility and material that accompanies the workshops. This must be associated with the commitment of control agencies and the judicial sphere that coordinate efforts applying prevention policies and effective sanctions for those who threaten biodiversity. In this direction, the need arises for there to be real knowledge of the problem and that is why the role of environmental NGOs is necessary to reach said information and generate spaces for training and advice.
It is also important that there are dissemination, education, awareness and citizen participation campaigns to value and generate a commitment to caring for biodiversity.