“Wildlife Crimes: How Poaching Funds Armed Groups and Terrorists” Featuring Enough Project’s Holly Dranginis

The program will start with a short video, “The Last Days of Ivory” evidencing how poaching funds armed groups including al-Shabab, the Lord’s Resistance Army, Boko Haram and Darfur’s Janjaweed; they smuggle wildlife products valued at $1.3 billion each year.

In a roundtable format, panelists will present evidence of how African wildlife is being decimated at an alarming rate—100 elephants killed per day for their ivory, and in South Africa rhinos killed by poachers, one every eight hours. Rhino horn now fetches $30,000 a pound on the black market, making it more profitable than selling a pound of cocaine on the street. Panelists will show how the proceeds fund armed groups and terrorists.

The panelists will discuss solutions for stopping such crimes and preserving Africa’s diminishing animals. They will also present the legislative formats prohibiting wildlife crimes, and analyze the enforcement and efficacy of such laws.

Moderator:

• Elizabeth Barad, International Law and Gender Consultant, Co-Chair, Committee on African Affairs

Panelists: 

• Simone Monasebian, Director, UN Office of Drugs and Crime
• Holly Dranginis, Policy Analyst for the Enough Project, focused on the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Adam Roberts, CEO of Born Free USA
• Jimmiel Mandima, Director, African Wildlife Foundation

RSVP to [email protected].

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