Conference Agenda

In recent years, there has been increasing calls on addressing the international songbird trade however, a significant portion of this trade remains under researched, impeding our ability to fully understand its impact. This study delves into a detailed examination of the repercussions of trade on two songbird groups on conservation concerns: Seedeaters (Sporophilla spp.) and Leafbirds (Chloropsis spp.).

Seedeaters, a genus indigenous to South America encompassing 43 species, display a notable prevalence in international trade, with at least half of these species implicated. For many within this genus, trade is a primary threat to their survival, persisting even in the presence of regulatory measures, with instances of illegal trade observed in the US and the EU.

Leafbirds, mainly found in Southeast Asia, comprise 13 species, with nine of them identified in the trade, including the endangered Greater Leafbird (Chloropsis sonnerati). Surging demand within Indonesian bird markets has precipitated cross-border transactions, potentially imperilling populations in neighbouring countries.

This investigation underscores the imperative for an in-depth exploration of vulnerable songbird groups in the international trade including investigating the potential efficacy of CITES listings for their conservation.

Understanding the drivers of wildlife trade is crucial for designing conservation interventions that minimize potential harmful impacts on ecosystems. Animals are traded for various reasons such as their visual aesthetic appeal to humans. We explored whether a citizen science derived birds’ attractiveness score, combined with their range size, could predict the level at which a species is traded. We combined different data sets with bird trade information to gain a comprehensive understanding of which bird species are traded or not. The visual aesthetic attractiveness of birds serves as a predictor for whether a bird species is traded. This phenomenon is observed globally and across all bird species; however more detailed results indicate that the correlation depends on the type of traded products. Attractiveness most effectively predicts the trade of live birds, and decorative derivatives of birds (e.g. clothing, feathers) linked to attractiveness. Nevertheless, geographic scale also matters: in the trade of birds within and into the European Union, the effect of attractiveness is less pronounced for live bird trade. This highlights how global data can help unveil general trends in wildlife trade, while underscoring the necessity of regional information to support a comprehensive understanding of species trade.

Tension between overexploitation as a major driver of biodiversity loss and humanity’s reliance on wild species creates a flashpoint between those who do and do not support sustainable use as a tool to support livelihoods and incentivize conservation. The discourse is fraught, with dominant narratives around use often lacking evidence. We present the results of three separate studies, drawing on comprehensive analysis of the IUCN Red List, as an evidence-base for some narratives that currently dominate public and policy discourse. One posits that because overexploitation is a major threat to biodiversity, use can seldom be biologically sustainable; we show that ~34% of used species are Least Concern with stable or improving population trends on the Red List. Second, international trade is often presented as a major threat to wildlife; we demonstrate that the number of species threatened by local/national use is four times greater than for international trade. Finally, we evaluate the proposition that trophy hunting is a major threat to species, presenting results showing that legal hunting for trophies is not a major threat to any of 73 taxa imported to the UK. We place our results in the context of current policy formulation and decision making.

Wildlife crime is devastating for endangered species and a growing risk to our societies’ economic development and security, but most cases still go unpunished and undetected. For the first time, the European LIFE SWiPE project compiles information on cases and sentences of wildlife crimes committed in 11 European countries from 2015 to 2020. 13% of these crimes were related to wildlife trade, primarily involving parrots, tortoises, and skins/parts and products from big cats, brown bears, elephants and sturgeon. There is a lack of monitoring of this phenomenon, making crimes against nature invisible as only a small part of these cases is detected. Even if reported, many wildlife crime cases were not prosecuted (60% of wildlife crime complaints did not result in indictments that led to court proceedings). In order to improve its detection and prosecution, we recommend: (1) public awareness of wildlife crime; (2) increasing cooperation and coordination among the different bodies and institutions; (3) specialized and motivational training that raises the awareness of all the actors involved; (4) judge specialization; (5) dedicating more resources; and (6) allowing NGOs to appear for the prosecution in proceedings