[Vision2020] Killing Lions, Buying Bombs

[Art Deco]

  [image: The New York Times] <http://www.nytimes.com/>

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August 9, 2013
Killing Lions, Buying Bombs By JOHAN BERGENAS, RACHEL STOHL and OCHIENG
ADALA

PRESIDENT OBAMA and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
recently stepped up the fight against poachers, who kill tens of thousands
of animals worldwide every year, selling their body parts for enormous
profits. As well as bringing much needed political focus to the issue,
their efforts include more resources to train and equip anti-poaching
forces.

This attention is part of a new understanding that poachers pose a threat
not only to endangered species, but to American national security. A
portion of the profits from poaching is funneled to terrorist groups,
including Al Shabab, based in Somalia, and the Lord’s Resistance Army,
which has killed more than 3,000 people and displaced another 400,000 in
Central Africa in recent years.

Despite anti-poaching efforts across the developing world, the illegal
killing of wild animals continues: the Wildlife Conservation Society says
that 35,000 African elephants were killed illegally last year, and that the
number of elephants on the continent has fallen to only 420,000, from 1.2
million in 1980.

Although it is impossible to know for sure how much money flows to
terrorists from poaching, some reports suggest that the monthly profit for
Al Shabab from the illegal ivory trade alone is $200,000 to $600,000. In
the case of the Lord’s Resistance Army, witnesses report that Joseph Kony,
the group’s leader, ordered the shooting of elephants in order to trade
their tusks for arms, cash, food and medical supplies.

The poaching-terrorist link is not new: in 1998 a Somali warlord tied to
poachers reportedly provided safe haven to operatives of Al Qaeda
responsible for the bombings of the American Embassies in Kenya and
Tanzania, which killed hundreds of people. But as both the global reach of
terrorist groups and the market for illegal animal parts have grown, the
nexus between the two has tightened.

Before stepping down as secretary of state, Mrs. Clinton began an effort,
led by the director of national intelligence, to determine the impact of
trafficking in animal products on American security.

The results of the report, which was finished this summer, have not been
released. But its conclusions are easy to guess, as shortly after its
completion President Obama created an interagency task force to develop an
anti-poaching strategy and pledged $10 million to help African states
combat poaching.

That’s a welcome contribution, but far below what is needed. To be sure,
poaching is a complex, transnational threat, and cracking down on poaching
is simply too big a job for the United States, or any government, to handle
alone.

It is therefore noteworthy that Mrs. Clinton has continued to generate
awareness of the issue since leaving office. On July 15 she announced she
would use her influence to rally support from national leaders around the
world behind anti-poaching endeavors. Her effort should catalyze other
states to step up their own efforts against poaching and wildlife
trafficking in Africa.

But the best shot at combating poaching must include nontraditional
partners working together. This means that governments, multilateral
organizations and technology innovators — from the Pentagon and United
Nations counterterrorism units to the World Bank and conservation groups —
must play a part in addressing the problem by coordinating strategies and
sharing information.

A collaborative response is also needed to achieve development goals in
Africa. Tourism is a key part of many African economies, and diminished
wildlife populations, especially of popular animals like elephants and
rhinos, is a direct threat to their prosperity.

Another key to any anti-poaching strategy should be to equip law
enforcement and other authorities with the technology necessary to counter
high-tech poachers, who use helicopters, night-vision goggles and automatic
weapons. The United States, for example, should work with African
governments to deploy unarmed surveillance drones to track poachers and
identify their illicit networks.

President Obama’s and Mrs. Clinton’s engagement on poaching deserves
credit. But to ensure the link between poaching and terrorism is severely
disrupted, their words need to be followed by a serious commitment of money
and resources, not only from the United States, but from conservation,
development and security organizations worldwide.

Johan Bergenas <http://www.stimson.org/experts/johan-bergenas/> is the
deputy director of the Managing Across Boundaries initiative at the Stimson
Center. Rachel Stohl <http://www.stimson.org/experts/rachel-stohl/> is a
senior associate with the initiative. Ochieng
Adala<http://www.amaniafrika.org/about-us/staff>,
the acting executive director of the Africa Peace Forum and a visiting
fellow at the Stimson Center, is a former Kenyan ambassador to the United
Nations.




-- 
Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
art.deco.studios at gmail.com
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