WILDLEAKS WEBSITE WELCOMES WILDLIFE WHISTLEBLOWERS
http://noanimalsuffering.blogspot.com/p/stoppoaching-petitions.html
Finally, there’s a new website that lets you anonymously report illegal wildlife and forest crimes like poaching.
by Cara Meyers on February 20, 2014
(ACTIVISM/WILDLIFE CONSERVATION)
A group of Nongovernmental Organizations, along with wildlife activists and funding from the Elephant Action League, are launching the website WildLeaks. They are hoping by developing this online portal, it will give whistleblowers a safe place to report both wildlife and forest crimes.
Wildlife and forest crimes represent an illegal $17 billion trade. By being able to anonymously report these heinous acts, there will hopefully be a significant decrease in illegal wildlife crimes.
Continue reading to find out more about WildLeaks. — Global Animal
Golden forest rhino.
A rhino captured on the fringe of the Golden Forest
in Lake Nakuru, Kenya.
Photo Credit: Greg du Toit
Outside Online, Mary Catherine O’Connor
The decision to kill a healthy two-year-old giraffe in a Danish zoo, in order to prevent inbreeding, has garnered international outrage and a top spot on Google News.
Meanwhile, poachers throughout Asia and Africa slaughter wild elephants, rhinos, and other charismatic megafauna on the regular, all to feed the greed machine with their byproducts, such as ivory.
Ivory horns are smuggled out of West and Central Africa for markets in Asia and Europe. Photo credit: thezimbabwean.co.uk
Granted, wildlife crime has been receiving a fair amount of news coverage—largely owing to the fact that poaching is bringing some species to the brink of extinction. Curbing the epidemic, spurred by a spike in demand for ivory, is proving a Herculean task. Combined, wildlife crime and forest crime (illegal logging and other fauna extraction) represent an illicit $17 billion trade, according to Global Financial Integrity. Only the illicit markets for drugs, counterfeits, human trafficking and oil are larger.
Wildlife and forest crimes tend to go unchecked because large international crime syndicates and warlords often commit them. (In the Democratic Republic of Congo, for example, poachers have been linked to Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army.) Would you want to come up against one of these groups for reporting poachers? Didn’t think so. But a group of NGOs and wildlife advocacy groups, with funding from the UK-based Elephant Action League, have launched an online portal called WildLeaks that they hope will provide whistleblowers a safe place to report wildlife and forest crimes.
The website (its name a nod to Wikileaks) uses a secure, encrypted transmission system that allows tipsters to submit information either confidentially or anonymously. Confidential submissions can’t be traced to their sources by third parties, but government entities could trace the IP address. Anonymous submissions are made using a software called Tor, which uses a chain of proxies and encrypted data to obscure the sender’s origin.
A Thai customs official shows ivory seized by the customs office in 2012 at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. Photo Credit: Reuters
Andrea Crosta, project leader of WildLeaks and co-founder of Elephant Action League, told The Ecologist:
“Our first priority is to facilitate the identification of criminals and corrupt governmental officials behind the poaching and trafficking of endangered species such as ivory, rhino horn, big cats, apes, pangolins and birds, as well as forest products. But we also put a lot of effort into protecting the people who chose to send us information, not only by providing a state-of-the-art secure system but also by managing and using the information in the correct way.”
Other organizations behind WildLeaks includes EcoJust, a Dutch consultancy that works with NGOs and governments to address global trafficking of endangered species; the South Africa-based Oxpeckers Center for Investigative Environmental Journalism, which specializes in data analysis and mapping techniques to track poaching; UK-based environmental investigation agency, an independent groups that works to solve environmental crimes; and a US-based investigative journalism network called 100 Reporters.
Visit the WildLeaks website, here.
More Outside Online: http://www.outsideonline.com/Safe-Place-for-Wildlife-Crime-Whistleblowers
________________________________________
DEMAND THE STOP OF ANIMAL GENOCIDE.
STOP THE HUNTERS, RANCHERS,
AND POACHERS!
VICTORY!!!
NEW U.S. BAN ON IVORY SALES AIMED AT SAVING MORE ELEPHANTS
Reuters
February 12, 2014 1:50 AM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House announced a new ban on sales of elephant ivory within the United States on Tuesday, part of a plan aimed at cracking down on trafficking of wildlife that is threatening some species, including the African elephant, with extinction.
The United States has banned imports of ivory since 1989. But the new efforts go further, banning the sale within the United States of most ivory products altogether and limiting sport-hunted trophies to two per hunter per year.
Part of the aim is to reduce demand for ivory products, which can be found in art and antique stores in most large U.S. cities, senior administration officials said on a conference call with reporters.
"The appropriate place to observe the majesty of this artwork is on a living elephant and a living rhinoceros in their native habitat," one official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The new push was prompted by soaring prices for ivory products which has spurred increased trafficking, some of which supports criminal groups, officials said.
Elephant ivory now sells for $1,500 per pound. Africa is losing an estimated 35,000 elephants a year to poaching, with total numbers down to less than 500,000.
"We can't ask other consumer nations to crack down on their domestic trade and markets unless we're prepared to do the same here at home," the official added.
There are still some exceptions under the new rules, such as if sellers can prove that items are more than 100 years old. Within a state, items imported before 1990 can also be traded, if sellers have the proper paperwork.
Congress has given the administration an extra $3 million for enforcing wildlife trafficking laws in 2014, officials said.
So you can see folks, your voice does matter.
You helped bring about the victory when you acted here: Thank you!
Please call upon your Congressional Representatives and Senators, and ask them to place a complete ban on the sale or trade of ivory products.
Find your United States Senators here:
Find your United States House of Representatives here:
IVORY CRUSH
from Defenders of Wildlife
November 25. 2013
Posted by: Jay Tutchton
In 1989, Kenya burned its entire stockpile of ivory confiscated from poachers or illegal traders. On November 14th, nearly 25 years later, the United States took similar action, dropping some six tons of confiscated ivory, worth millions of dollars, into a rock crusher.
Why would a poor nation, or a rich one for that matter, intentionally destroy something worth millions of dollars? To make a symbolic point. The illegal ivory trade is responsible for an accelerating and alarming number of elephant deaths, currently estimated at between 30,000 and 35,000 elephants per year. Unless this rate of loss is reduced, outside of closely guarded reserves, free-roaming elephants will be eliminated from the wild in approximately 10 years.
But there is also a deeper problem. Why has nothing improved since Kenya first highlighted the illegal ivory trade with its symbolic action over two decades ago? The answer is simple – because the legal ivory trade provides a “laundry” in which poachers sell their illegal wares, making enforcement of trade restrictions highly complex and difficult. If we are truly going to change this situation, we have to address both the illegal and legal trade and eliminate both. Hopefully, the United States’ “Ivory Crush” indicates the start of a sincere effort to eliminate all trade in ivory and save the elephant. Twenty-five years of attempting to regulate this trade has proven an abysmal failure, as the United States’ six-ton stockpile of confiscated ivory amply illustrated. Only a complete ban of the ivory trade will fix the problem.
Elephant tusks, and the art works made from them are indisputably beautiful. Yet, this beauty quickly fades when one realizes that these tusks and carvings represent the deaths of elephants and their lucrative sale provides the motivation for the ongoing elephant slaughter. I was able to attend the event, which took place in Denver, Colorado. Here are just a few shots of what I saw.
Witnessing the United State’s first Ivory Crush, I was stuck by two competing thoughts. The beautiful carvings show one side of the human sprit – our incredibly artistry. However, they also show our darker, selfish, or thoughtless side in that each artwork was only possible because an elephant died at the hands of a poacher. Though it seems incongruous to celebrate the destruction of artwork, in this case, it felt good to watch these carved tusks become dust. The truer expression of the human sprit comes through the celebration of living animals. The elephant itself is more impressive, more compelling, evocative, and beautiful, than anything we might carve out of its dead body parts. In the destruction of this ivory, there is hope that we might practice self-restraint and learn to treasure free-living wildlife as more than something to be made into a pair of earrings or a bracelet.
Living elephants are much more. Let’s save them by putting the ivory trade behind us. Defenders of Wildlife is actively working to address the harmful impacts of the illegal and legal wildlife trade on elephants and many other species. Join in this effort by calling on your Congressional representatives to place a complete ban on the sale or trade of ivory products.
Jay Tutchton, Staff Attorney
http://www.defendersblog.org/2013/11/ivory-crush/#1
O
THOUSANDS MARCH FOR ELEPHANTS IN BIGGEST EVER SHOW OF SUPPORT FOR THE SPECIES
On Friday 4th October the world marched for elephants in over 35 global cities in the first ever iworry International March for Elephants. Supporters took to the streets to protest and call on their Governments to take urgent action to save the elephant from extinction.
Cities included London, New York, Bangkok, Arusha and Cape Town.
A number of celebrity guests and keynote speakers turned out to show their support for the species. Our Patron Kristin Davis addressed the crowds in NYC joined by award-winning author Bryan Christy, renowned wildlife conservationist Iain Doulgas-Hamilton, Dr Paula Kahumbu and model Christie Brinkley. We were also delighted to invite Born Free CEO Will Travers to our March in Washington DC to address the crowds and American actress Kristin Bauer van Straten to talk to those gathered in Los Angeles. Over 10,000 people took to the streets on Friday October 4th - a clear sign the world is calling for change.
Off the streets we also received thousands of wonderful iSupport photos and messages through The Digital March including Kenya's First Lady Margaret Kenyatta.
THE FIGHT CONTINUES
Every 15 minutes an elephant is killed for its ivory. At the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust we see the terrible impact of the illicit ivory trade and poaching crisis every day. Through our iworry campaign we are able to inform and educate people around the world into the illegal ivory trade, the effects this criminal activity is having on wild elephants and what we can do to stop the killing.
WATCH & SHARE SHORT VIDEO 'WILD'
TAKE ACTION
The International March for Elephants was just the start of this global movement. Thanks to supporters around the world we will continue to campaign through iworry to ensure World Leaders recognise their responsibility in combating the poaching crisis and make change happen. The Digital March will continue throughout the year, so please share your messages of support with us.
How to show your support:
Write to your politically elected representative
Join the hall of fame and send in your iSupport poster
Sign the online petition
Find out how to campaign for elephants in your local area
Donate today:
Support the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust’s field projects to protect Africa’s endangered elephants
Stay updated at: www.iworry.org
Copyright © 2013 The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. All rights reserved.
iworry is an advocacy and awareness campaign by the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.
Our mailing address is:
The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
2nd Floor, 3 Bridge Street
Leatherhead
KT22 8BL
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www.iworry.org
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