TY - JOUR
T1 - Emerging trends of the illegal wildlife trade in Mesoamerica
AU - Gluszek, Sarah
AU - Ariano-Sánchez, Daniel
AU - Cremona, Patricia
AU - Goyenechea, Alejandra
AU - Luque Vergara, Darío Antonio
AU - McLoughlin, Lee
AU - Morales, Alejandro
AU - Reuter Cortes, Adrian
AU - Rodríguez Fonseca, Javier
AU - Radachowsky, Jeremy
AU - Knight, Andrew
PY - 2021/9
Y1 - 2021/9
N2 - Mesoamerica is the world's third largest biodiversity hotspot and has c. 4,000 wildlife species protected under CITES. Despite the high biodiversity in the region, there is limited global attention, data and funding for conservation. The continued exploitation of wildlife species for the trade requires a more proactive approach to address emerging trends, and low-cost and effective solutions to prevent species decline. Over a 5-month period in 2017, we used expert-driven horizon scanning, facilitated online, to identify emerging trends of the illegal wildlife trade in Mesoamerica. We found that the main emerging trends included digital and technological advancements, greater regional access to the global community, developments in trafficking techniques and growing demand for certain species. Our findings demonstrate that horizon scanning can be used as a tool for identifying emerging trends of illegal wildlife trade in data-poor contexts. We recommend that horizon scanning is used regularly for systematic monitoring of trends and to prioritize resources for immediate and emerging trends in illegal wildlife trade.
AB - Mesoamerica is the world's third largest biodiversity hotspot and has c. 4,000 wildlife species protected under CITES. Despite the high biodiversity in the region, there is limited global attention, data and funding for conservation. The continued exploitation of wildlife species for the trade requires a more proactive approach to address emerging trends, and low-cost and effective solutions to prevent species decline. Over a 5-month period in 2017, we used expert-driven horizon scanning, facilitated online, to identify emerging trends of the illegal wildlife trade in Mesoamerica. We found that the main emerging trends included digital and technological advancements, greater regional access to the global community, developments in trafficking techniques and growing demand for certain species. Our findings demonstrate that horizon scanning can be used as a tool for identifying emerging trends of illegal wildlife trade in data-poor contexts. We recommend that horizon scanning is used regularly for systematic monitoring of trends and to prioritize resources for immediate and emerging trends in illegal wildlife trade.
KW - Central America
KW - expert elicitation
KW - horizon scanning
KW - online focus group
KW - prioritization
KW - transnational crime
KW - wildlife crime
KW - wildlife trafficking
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85087509634&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S0030605319001133
DO - 10.1017/S0030605319001133
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85087509634
SN - 0030-6053
VL - 55
SP - 708
EP - 716
JO - Oryx
JF - Oryx
IS - 5
ER -
