Projects

The Challenge

Sustainable trade in wild species and agricultural goods can lift people out of poverty and create economic growth, particularly in low and middle-income countries.

In many places however, this has not been realised. Instead the exploitation of wild resources and conversion of land to agricultural production has led to severe degradation and species loss, wiping out local livelihood options and keeping people in a cycle of poverty.

Due in part to unsustainable trade, the global community is at risk of falling short of international ambitions such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.

Explicitly addressing the challenges of trade and working together towards better practices that enhance sustainability will be essential to fulfil these ambitions.

The project will study how different systems of trade have affected biodiversity from a biophysical, social, political and economic point of view, and seek to trace the impact of the trade throughout supply chains – from supplier to consumer countries via trading companies. As well as feeding into public policy advice, this research will also help companies understand their products’ true environmental impact all the way back to the raw materials.

Supporting Documentation

Leaflet: Sustainable Trade for People and the Planet

WILDMEAT Interventions Database. The WILDMEAT Interventions Database provides a freely accessible, comprehensive database of past and current interventions aiming to manage unsustainable wild meat use. For more information see here

Outputs

Summary of the CPW ‘Virtual workshop on wildlife harvest, use and trade targets and indicators for the CBD Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.  18-19 March 2020. Via Zoom

WILDMEAT Interventions Database: The WILDMEAT Interventions Database provides a freely accessible, comprehensive database of past and current interventions aiming to manage unsustainable wild meat use. /content/wildmeat-interventions-database. More information here

Our Researchers and Covid-19

The research carried out by programme members is varied and covers many different aspects of conservation, spanning multiple countries, approaches and involving many different disciplines.

We have various different programmes and researchers who are currently working on topics relevant to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Our researchers have been engaging with the media in various forums here are a few links to articles they have written or been quoted in:

• What are the origins of novel human infectious diseases like COVID-19? EJ Milner-Gulland, Lauren Coad, Yuhan Li, Kelly Malsch, Munib Khanyari, Hollie Booth
• Coronavirus: why a blanket ban on wildlife trade would not be the right response.  Dan Challender, Amy Hinsley, Diogo Veríssimo, Michael ‘t Sas-Rolfes Originally published in ‘The Conversation‘
• A global pandemic casts humanity’s relationship to nature in stark relief   EJ Milner-Gulland
• China’s Announcement on Wildlife Trade – What’s New and What Does It Mean?  Yuhan Li 
• Covid-19 – a blessing for pangolins Yuhan Li