Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 31 October 2017 to Question 109459, on Africa: poaching, what steps his Department has taken to monitor the effectiveness of spending to combat the illegal wildlife trade.

The department has mechanisms in place to monitor the effectiveness of spending to combat the illegal wildlife trade. All illegal wildlife trade grants have to report on what they have achieved with the money allocated to them, and have an agreed monitoring and evaluation plan and targets. Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund projects submit six-monthly, annual and final reports on their progress. The annual and final reports are reviewed by an independent assessor.