By Arrissa Awatif
Wildlife species being rare and valuable have made themselves exposed to a great threat. An 8 to 10 billion USD worth for a wildlife crime1 shows that the illegal conduct is largely at stake. This illicit trade should be a concerned issue as it is more than just a mere ecological issue. As a consequence of the crimes involving wildlife, a decline of 60% in population sizes of vertebrate species2 where tigers were poached for their skin, elephants for their ivory tusks, pangolins for their scales and other animals for their exclusive features. Malaysia having a tropical rainforest as a geographical location had contributed to being one of the factors for wildlife trafficking to happen.
According to WWF, platforms such as online portals including websites, social media, and e-commerce had ease in fulfilling the willing buyers’ wishes. In the recent past year 2022, 23 investigation papers for illegal wildlife trade were opened by the Royal Malaysian Customs Department involving seizures valued at almost RM73.4 million.3 According to a report, the illegal activity has been carried out using sea routes and the suspects would often uses fake recipient name and address. The serious question here is what has been done to curb this crime?
Based on List iii of the Concurrent List in the Ninth Schedule of the Federal Constitution, both the Federal and state has power to legislate laws regarding the protection of wildlife animals. Besides, the laws enacted relating to the protection of wildlife can be seen in the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 where it applies to Peninsular Malaysia and the Federal Territory of Labuan. The act consists of the regulation, protection, conservation and management of wildlife in Malaysia. Before the said act has been enacted, the sad truth regarding wildlife trafficking is that even after being arrested and sentenced to prison for several years, the perpetrator could continue the business after being released.4 Now that the Act has been enacted, things has been changed and it can be seen by more manpower has been given to Perhilitan where Perhilitan doubled its wildlife conservation staff in 2010, reinforced vigilance at 13 checkpoints on suspected trafficking routes, and established an integrated
enforcement task force combining the Malaysian military, police, customs and airport security.5 As a plus point, jail was not the only punishment towards the wildlife traffickers after the said act was enacted. An example of another sentence for the perpetrators is the people who illegally hunt or possess certain protected wildlife can be punished by a fine of up to RM500,000 and mandatory imprisonment of up to five years.6
Looking into a wider perspective, what are the measures taken in the form of laws when it comes to international level? One of the laws in reducing the crime is the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) that was entered into force in 1975 to regulate international trade in species threatened with extinction.7 The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) also has implemented the Global Programme for Combating Wildlife and Forest Crime in cooperation with the State members of Southeast Asia and Pacific region since 2014.8 Among the measures taken throughout this programme are strengthening the policy, legislative and regulatory frameworks, enhancing knowledge and skills to investigate and prosecute related criminal activities and increasing the awareness of the nature and scale of environmental crimes.9 Unfortunately, it is a sad truth that as the illegal wildlife trade product is successfully smuggled into the country by criminal networks, several factors come into play that can pose challenges for enforcing wildlife laws, and the legal framework is considerably weaker due to gaps between implementation and enforcement.10
To conclude, there were indeed measures taken in various forms of laws either within the state or internationally. However, is it the effectiveness of the law enforced or is it the people conducting the crime being too apathetic that makes the wildlife trafficking still extensively going round the clock.
Bibliography
CITES. “What is CITES.” Accessed April 8, 2023. https://cites.org/eng/disc/what.php
Clean Malaysia. “5 Reasons Malaysia’s Wildlife Conservation Act is one of History’s Most Important Wildlife Regulations.” Accessed April 8, 2023. https://cleanmalaysia.com/2015/08/28/5-reasons-malaysias-wildlife-conservation-act-is-one-of-historys-most-important-wildlife-regulations/
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. “Legal frameworks to deter and combat the illegal wildlife trade in Southeast Asia.” Accessed April 8, 2023. https://www.oecdilibrary.org/sites/bb3eae76en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/bb3eae76-en
The Borneo Post. “Customs: 23 wildlife smuggling cases this year, RM73.4 mln in seizures.” Accessed April 8, 2023. https://www.theborneopost.com/2022/12/09/customs-23-wildlife-smuggling-cases-this-year-rm73-4-mln-in-seizures/
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. “Criminal Justice Response to Wildlife Crime in Malaysia.” Accessed April 8, 2023. https://www.unodc.org/documents/southeastasiaandpacific/Publications/2017/Malaysia_Assessment_-_09.pdf
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. “Wildlife and Forest Crime.” Accessed April 8, 2023. https://www.unodc.org/roseap/en/what-we-do/toc/wildlife-forest-crime.html
WWF Malaysia. “Fight Illegal Wildlife Trade.” Accessed April 8, 2023. https://www.wwf.org.my/how_you_can_help/donate_now/fight_illegal_wildlife_trade/#:~:text=How%20do%20we%20fight%20illegal,penalty%20for%20wildlife%20trade%20offenders%20.