ZSL Thailand has today convened the Land Transport Federation of Thailand (LTFT), Thai Authorized Customs Brokers Association (TACBA) along with partner the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) to sign the Buckingham Palace Declaration and commit to tackling illegal wildlife trade in Thailand.
The signing of United for Wildlife’s Buckingham Palace Declaration represents a significant milestone in Thailand’s efforts to shut down transport routes across the country which are exploited by the illegal wildlife trade.
The Buckingham Palace Declaration was created by United for Wildlife, which was founded by Prince William and The Royal Foundation in 2013 to protect endangered species from the illegal wildlife trade. The declaration takes steps to remove vulnerabilities in transportation and customs to tackle the criminals currently exploiting them and is signed by the United for Wildlife Transport Taskforce members to represent their agreement to eleven commitments.
The commitments outlined aim to support the private sector in fighting the illegal wildlife trade and focus on securing information sharing systems for the transport industry to receive credible information about high risk routes and methods of transportation, developing a secure system for passing information about suspected illegal wildlife trade from the transport sector to relevant customs and law enforcement authorities and notifying relevant law enforcement authorities of cargoes suspected of containing illegal wildlife and their products and, where able, refuse to accept or ship such cargoes.
May Moe Wah, Country Director of ZSL Thailand said: “Thailand’s strong and efficient ground transport network gives orchestrators of the illegal wildlife trade a significant method for evading authorities – when they are using roads instead of ports with checkpoints, it reduces opportunities for law enforcers to intercept their illegal activity.
“By actively engaging leaders in Thailand’s private sector, we are aiming to tackle illegal wildlife trade at its core. We’re uniquely placed to strengthen the relationship between Thai government and the transport industry, and this collaborative approach is not just crucial for protecting species such as pangolins, but achieving our long-term goals of biodiversity preservation and ecological resilience.”
In April 2023, ZSL signed a ground-breaking agreement with the Land Transport Federation of Thailand (LTFT) to boost its conservationists’ efforts to combat the illegal trade in Critically Endangered pangolins, birds and reptiles – taken from the wild due to demand for their meat and scales and for the pet trade.
The Buckingham Palace Declaration will further underline the importance of that crucial agreement, and is a landmark pact which commits to shutting down the routes exploited by traffickers of the illegal wildlife trade moving their products.
Following the signing of the Buckingham Palace Declaration, ZSL Thailand and TACBA signed a Memorandum of Understanding, with the Brokers Association committing to using its network to raise awareness of the routes used by the illegal wildlife trade and support our nationwide efforts to protect and restore threatened species.
