Illegal wildlife trade must be eliminated calling it a serious crime

Illegal wildlife trade needs to be recognised as a serious crime in our legislation.

Bangladesh has made commendable progress in addressing its requirements, particularly by aligning national protection for threatened sharks and rays, and training law enforcers in identifying protected species or their parts valued in international markets.

We know the country is home to many endangered species, including iconic tigers, elephants and pangolins.

Each species has economic worth, which makes Bangladesh a source for international trafficking efforts.

Weak laws and enforcement also mean that Bangladesh is seen as a smuggling access point for the wider region.

In other words, it is a hub for smuggling wildlife items from other parts of the world.

There are reports of turtles and tortoises from Sri Lanka and India being trafficked across land borders to allow for onward dispersal through Dhaka airport.

Tigers are trafficked from the tiger farm trade in Thailand and South Africa into Bangladesh.

This, in turn, perpetuates the supply of the illegal trade globally.

There have also been seizures in Bangladesh of large African mammals destined for India, including lions and zebras.

A big problem is that smugglers are intentionally mixing illegal trade with legal trade in species.

They can manipulate the legal trade in wildlife and thereby facilitate the illegal trade.

Bangladesh joined the main wildlife protection treaty, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), in 1981.

CITES ensures that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of the species.

Under this convention, wildlife trading can be regulated with permits to enable trade between countries for some species. It also prevents the trade of endangered species.

The country’s main wildlife management agency, the Forest Department, is responsible for giving permissions and enforcing the relevant regulations.

It is the Forest Department that can verify if imported items are legal or illegal. But it does not have access to ports of entry and exit.

Bangladesh has signed and ratified 14 international treaties on conservation efforts.

This would usually indicate that considerable protection is in place.

But in reality, there is a wide gap between these treaties and their on-the-ground implementation.