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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to support global action to tackle the illegal wildlife trade.

In October 2018 the UK Government staged the largest ever international illegal wildlife trade conference in London, where we reaffirmed our commitment to and leadership in tackling this trade across the globe. The Conference Declaration was signed by 64 countries and builds on commitments made at the previous illegal wildlife trade conferences in London, Kasane and Hanoi. The UK is investing more than £36 million between 2014 and 2021 to take action to counter the trade, including work to reduce demand, strengthen enforcement, ensure effective legal frameworks and develop sustainable livelihoods. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/declaration-london-conference-on-the-illegal-wildlife-trade-2018

We have made progress in key areas in the six months since the London 2018 conference, including a successful workshop in Vietnam to look at ways to tackle the demand for illegally traded species and products; the establishment and first deployment of a new counter-poaching partnership programme to deliver counter-poaching training for African park rangers; and progress with the WILDLABS Tech Hub which aims to harness the power of technology, data sharing and machine learning to combat wildlife crime. We also announced 14 new schemes that will each receive a share of £4.6 million from the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund, and new education resources for schoolchildren around the globe that aim to teach the next generation about the dangers of fuelling the illegal wildlife trade. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-government-supports-global-action-to-fight-illegal-wildlife-trade

In December 2018 we passed tough new legislation to close our domestic ivory market. The Ivory Act effects a total ban on commercial dealing in elephant ivory with five narrow exemptions, and when it comes into force it will be the toughest in Europe and one of the toughest in the world.