The illegal ivory trade in Africa may be helping to fund terrorist groups like al-Shabaab. Now an $80 million initiative will scale up the fight against elephant poaching
TIME for a war on poaching? Hillary Clinton unveiled an $80 million plan last week by conservation groups and African governments to combat elephant poaching.
Announcing the plan, Clinton highlighted that money from wildlife crime may be helping to fund terrorist groups, such as the al-Shabaab group that attacked the Westgate shopping mall in Kenya two weeks ago.
The money will go towards scaling up anti-poaching activities, targeting supply lines and traffickers, and reducing demand for ivory in major markets, mostly in east Asia.
“Part of al-Shabaab’s funding has been, and is still, from ivory,” says Andrea Crosta of the Elephant Action League, an NGO in California. Between 2011 and 2012, he led an undercover investigation of poaching in Kenya. Poachers and brokers said they were increasingly selling to al-Shabaab, which sells the ivory on at a huge mark-up.
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Plan to tackle wildlife poaching highlights terrorist links
The illegal ivory trade in Africa may be helping to fund terrorist groups like al-Shabaab. Now an $80 million initiative will scale up the fight against elephant poaching
TIME for a war on poaching? Hillary Clinton unveiled an $80 million plan last week by conservation groups and African governments to combat elephant poaching.
Announcing the plan, Clinton highlighted that money from wildlife crime may be helping to fund terrorist groups, such as the al-Shabaab group that attacked the Westgate shopping mall in Kenya two weeks ago.
The money will go towards scaling up anti-poaching activities, targeting supply lines and traffickers, and reducing demand for ivory in major markets, mostly in east Asia.
“Part of al-Shabaab’s funding has been, and is still, from ivory,” says Andrea Crosta of the Elephant Action League, an NGO in California. Between 2011 and 2012, he led an undercover investigation of poaching in Kenya. Poachers and brokers said they were increasingly selling to al-Shabaab, which sells the ivory on at a huge mark-up.