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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) multilateral and (b) bilateral initiatives he has taken to counter the illegal wildlife trade.

Combatting the illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is a priority for the UK Government. This is why we are investing £26 million globally, and working with international partners, to tackle the systemic issues driving IWT.

Our work to combat IWT involves a number of multilateral and bilateral initiatives, including the commitments we made at the Hanoi Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference: http://www.parliament.uk/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2016-12-01/HCWS295

These commitments complement our existing initiatives, such as funding our Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund, which aims to reduce demand, strengthen enforcement, ensure effective legal frameworks and develop sustainable livelihoods for communities affected by IWT. A list of projects can be found on the IWT Challenge Fund website: https://www.gov.uk/Government/collections/illegal-wildlife-trade-iwt-challenge-fund

Following the success of the inaugural international conference on IWT in London in 2014 and UK Government support for the subsequent successful conferences in Kasane (2015) and Hanoi (2016), the UK will bring global leaders back to London in October 2018 for a fourth high level international meeting. This meeting will make sure that IWT stays at the top of the political agenda, that all participants deliver on existing commitments and instigate new partnerships for action.