Overall Score:
| Target Readership | Sen Secondary + | ||||
| Presentation/Style |  |
|
|
||
| Content | |
|
|
||
| Literature | |
|
|
||
| Originality | |
|
|
||
| Overall | |
|
|
||
Contents:
1 - The nature and extent of legal and illegal trade in wildlife; 2 - What is the goal of regulating the wildlife trade? Is regulation a good way to achieve this goal?; 3 - Regulatory design; 4 - Regulation, conservation and incentives; 5 - Control and the holy grail; 6 - Compliance and enforcement mechanisms in CITES; 7 - The European Community wildlife trade regulations; 8 - Evolution, impact and effectiveness of domestic wildlife bans in India; 9 - Regulation and protection: successes and failures in rhinoceros conservation; 10 - Elephant poaching and resource allocation for law enforcement; 11 - Crocodiles: legal trade snaps back; 12 - Regulation and the timber trade; 13 - Bushmeat: traditional regulation or adaptation to market forces; 14 - The impact of the proposal to list devil's claw on Appendix II of CITES; 15 - The need for a better understanding of context when applying CITES regulations: the case of the Indonesian parrot Tanimbar corella; 16 - Lessons from the control of the illegal trade in ozone-depleting substances, timber and fisheries; 17 - The controlled trade in drugs; 18 - Lessons from the trade in illicit antiquities.
Review:
25 years ago when the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) came into force it was assumed that illegal trade in wildlife would cease. Although the trade did diminish it was still there. One obvious problem is that, by very virtue of its being illegal i.e. unrecorded, it is impossible to get accurate records of the trade. Those estimates that can be made suggest an activity worth billions of pounds annually. Early attempts at outright control have been replaced with a broader apporach acknowledging the role of the local economy and culture, the way in which regulations are constructed and enforced and global differences (should poorer nations pay all the burden for stopping trade into rich nations?).
It is into this scene that this book is placed. It started as the result of a conference to bring together a variety of conservationists, researchers, wildlife experts and police units. The end product is a detailed and interesting account of the way in which the wildlife trade currently functions. Apart from a brief introduction to the topic, the book is divided into four parts. The first part looks at the nature of the illegal trade and the way in which people have sought to control it. Chapter one aims to be an overview of the illegal trade although since such a prospect is difficult to achieve it seeks to place illegal trade in the context of legal global trade. Chapter two considers the question of what precisely you wish to control. This is a key point: 'saving threatened species' might be laudable but threatened where (local or global population?), by whom (indigenous groups have a right to their natural resources) and to what end (biodiversity, morals?). Chapters three and four look at regulation. The former outlines ways regulations can be made for the global setting and the latter investigates how regulation might be made effective through legal and economic measures (great laws still flounder if no-one is enforcing them). A final chapter places regulation in the context of sustainability - how to we control trasde to ensure a sustainable population? Part two briefly describes a series of regulation and enforcement case studies: CITES, the European Union and India. The choice is and interesting one. CITES remains the key global law but this does not mean to say that it has sloved all the problems. Although overshadowed by economic, social and agricultural measures, one of the original foci of the EU was the environment. Although it had a modest start it has grown considerably over the past 15-20 years to represent a significant regional force. The move towards common police standards wildlife control easier but problems still remain. India also has comprehensive legislation but, as their study shows, enforcement can be a problem. Part three looks at a series of wildlife case studies. In common with part two we find successes and failures being presented here. Failures are obvious but even successes can generate difficulties. For example, chapter nine examines rhinoceros conservation. Cautiously seen as a success story, we are now told of the problems of what to do with captured rhino horn. The next study looks at elephants. Another success story but whether global legislation helped is debatable. Good local resources seem to have created a drop in poaching even before CITES. Crocodiles are a prime example of legal trade virtually stopping illegal activity. Contrary to the arguments that legal trade creates and illegal demand, croc farming is a booming industry in several parts of the world. Animals are easy to see and simple for the public to identify with. In one of the first references in the text, chapter 12 looks at the timber trade. This is very much a global industry that has only just woken up to the problems of illegal logging and its impact on biodiversity. A similar situation is seen in the bushmeat trade (chapter 13). A local resource that is almost overlooked but where an increase in demand has meant that local populations are becoming threatened. The final two cases in this part highlight the way in which blanket coverage by CITES does not always address the problem. The rare plant Devil's Claw could be listed but that doesn't mean it is the best option. Changing the listed status of a species (a parrot in this case) can create a poorer situation than existed previously so it's important to look at tyhe local context before using legal means. Part four compares the issues raised by CITES with three case studies in other illegal areas - ozone-depleting chemical, drugs and antiquities. A final chapter draws together the key lessons learnt from the other work.
CITES was a landmark piece of legislation. It was seen as being the solution to illegal trade. Furthermore, it raised a number of issues that weren't really being considered prior to this. This isn't to say that the scheme hasn't had its share of successes and failures but it has certainly raised the profile and status of wildlife exploitation. This book captures a wide range of issues and cases. The use of a large number of relatively brief chapters allows the reader to have the widest possible exposure to the range of arguments surrounding CITES. Although this is a specialist text aimed at conservationists and undergraduates it is very well written and easily understandable by senior students. It raises a number of crucial issues and highlights the complexity surrounding even the seemingly simple task of protecting a species.