Conference Agenda

Wildlife trade in Europe poses a complex challenge, impacting thousands of native and exotic species across diverse taxonomic groups, with implications for human health, biological invasions, and global biodiversity. This presentation offers an introduction to this critical issue exploring both challenges and opportunities associated with wildlife trade in the European context.

Unique challenges include navigating the complexities of the European single market and managing the expansive land and sea borders of the European Union. The absence of systematic species-level record-keeping hinders reliable data collection, compounded by the rise of online markets that are challenging to monitor. The exact scope of individuals and species traded both legally and illegally into Europe remains unclear, impeding impact analyses. Despite existing EU-wide databases like EU TRACES and EU TWIX, data coverage is limited. While the new EU Action Plan on Wildlife Trafficking addresses some of these challenges gaps remain.

Addressing these gaps necessitates novel methodologies, including artificial intelligence, alongside changes in environmental policy and data collection. An interdisciplinary approach, as exemplified by this symposium, becomes crucial to ensuring that European trade aligns with global biodiversity goals.

European eels have been on this planet for millions of years; their ancestors have outlived the dinosaurs. Yet today, this once resilient species is recognized as critically endangered and faces mounting threats from numerous fronts. As with many commercially exploited fish species, European eel populations have been overfished and international trade has shifted into criminality as demand has soared and profits risen. The species is also victimized by damaging corporate environmental practices including (but not limited to) land-use change, pollution, and infrastructure development. This presentation draws attention to these converging threats and highlights how a green criminological focus on wildlife and environmental harms and crimes can better situate, recognize, and respond to the drivers of demand that threaten the species. I show how the eel’s transatlantic, transboundary existence across marine and freshwater spheres challenges conventional environmental governance, segregating issues of fishery crimes and industrial harms, and obscuring the impact from institutionalized and socially normalized patterns of demand and consumption in the Global North. By examining these issues from a green criminological standpoint this presentation invites a specific focus on the role of European economies and cultures of demand as drivers of both direct and indirect harms toward the European eel.

The rising popularity of private aquariums has increased the demand for diverse ornamental fish, leading to a shift from physical pet stores to online marketplaces. However, a significant concern is that online retailers rarely provide information of their offered species, making it difficult for customers to make sustainable choices. Despite growing concerns over unsustainability, the trade of marine ornamental fishes remains largely unmonitored and understudied.

As Germany is one of the major global importers of marine ornamental fish, we used modern web scraping tools to analyze data from eight German online shops selling marine ornamental fish. The study identified 767 species and 59 families in the trade, revealing that 12% of the 2,400 products were captive-bred and 88% were wild-caught, with captive-bred products being 29.3% more expensive. Most traded species were imported from Indonesia (102 spp.) and the Philippines (65 spp.). Our findings highlight a lack of transparency from retailers regarding species-specific information, care, and required trade documentation, posing a potential threat to animal welfare. Additionally, we discovered the sale of threatened fish species sourced from the wild, which underlines the urgent need for more comprehensive monitoring and research into the collection and trade of marine ornamental fishes.

The centuries-old, multi-billion-dollar trade in marine ornamental fishes has never been reliably monitored, making analysis difficult. Estimates range from 15 to 30 million fishes from over 2,000 species traded annually but could be as high as 150 million without accounting for mortality, which can be high depending on the species.

Most traded coral reef fishes are native to Southeast Asia and almost all are wild caught. The consequences of removing millions of these fishes each year are poorly understood. Europe, a major importer, uses TRACES (Trade Control and Expert System) to monitor live animal imports for disease prevention. From 2014 to 2021, over 3 million ornamental fishes entered Europe annually. Unfortunately, one third of specimens lacked species names. The susceptibility to trade was assessed using the number of specimens traded, trends in trade volume, IUCN Red List conservation status and vulnerability according to FishBase. The urgent need to monitor this trade has been highlighted by scholars in the past. With a few enhancements TRACES would provide accurate and timely information on the number and species of marine ornamental fishes in trade, the origin of specimens and whether they are wild-caught or captive-bred.

www.procoralfish.org

Launched in 2019, 'Wild for Orchids' (WfO) is an award-winning Citizen Science (CS) campaign dedicated to the conservation of wild orchids on the Maltese Islands. This initiative uses a data-driven approach to conserving the Orchidaceae family, threatened by habitat degradation and harvesting poaching.

The primary objectives of WfO are to monitor the phenology, distribution and population trends of orchids in Malta, focusing on native and endemic taxa. This initiative engages the public in scientific research and raises awareness about orchid conservation. Trained volunteers use a specialised mobile application to collect spatial, temporal and taxonomic data, employing ad hoc sampling and structured surveys for comprehensive coverage. Data quality is ensured through a 2-stage Quality Control, focusing on location accuracy and taxonomy.

With over 4,100 orchid specimens recorded, WfO currently holds the largest spatial dataset for the Maltese Islands for wild orchids. The data provides critical insights into orchids’ distribution and population dynamics, informing conservation strategies.

Wild for Orchids has effectively engaged the public in biodiversity conservation, building a community of citizen scientists committed to Malta’s natural heritage. It underscores the importance of CS in linking research with community participation and enhancing environmental stewardship.

Wild-plant harvesting, an ancient practice integral to food and medicine, has gained renewed interest as societies seek more “natural” products. However, reliance on wild-plants raises concerns about impacts on biodiversity. A 2018 report by NGO TRAFFIC revealed alarming facts: 60-90% of global aromatic and medicinal plants are wild-sourced, only 7% have an IUCN assessment, with one in five facing extinction threats.

In France, ~10% (700+ species) of the wild flora is commercially harvested, with little known about associated impacts. Our goal is to identify harvesting risks and set conservation priorities to better manage harvesting. We ranked ~700 harvested species using criteria combining biogeographical data and sensitivity to harvesting :

- Species rarity (country and county scales).

- Innate vulnerability, using plant biology and ecology (survival strategies, resource allocation…).

- Habitat vulnerability, using the IUCN Red List.

- Harvesting pressure, including harvesting frequency (number of appearances in harvest lists), uses, and harvested parts.

Preliminary results show that while France is overall impacted by harvesting, some counties are overly rich in harvested species. Spreading harvesting pressures could help limit impacts on vulnerable populations. Furthermore, certain rare taxa suffer high pressures without any regulation of these practices. Our results will help set policy recommendations promoting sustainable harvesting practices.