Conservation Crime Science

Kahler, Jessica S.; Gore, Meredith L.

doi:10.1002/9781119376866.ch2

Cited by 7 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…To date, most efforts to understand and address IWT have focused on Africa and Asia, where megafauna such as elephants and tigers are declining due to demand from Asian markets (Sanderson et al, 2010;Wittemyer et al, 2014). Less attention has been given to the issue in Latin America, which represents less than 10% of peer-reviewed literature on illegal wildlife harvesting published between 1990-2014 (Kahler and Gore, 2017), leaving important gaps in our understanding of IWT in the region (Reuter et al, 2018a). Among these gaps is the recent trade in jaguars (Panthera onca) for domestic and international markets.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics of, and uncertainties about, illegal jaguar trade in Belize and Guatemala

Arias

Hinsley

Milner‐Gulland

2020

Biological Conservation

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Recent reports of jaguar trade have emerged throughout Latin America, but, although trade is now considered a high-priority threat to jaguars, its characteristics remain largely unknown. We aimed to gain a deeper understanding of the status of jaguar trade in Mesoamerica, focusing on Belize and Guatemala. We used key-informant interviews to explore the pathways behind the jaguar trade chain, identify the characteristics and motivations of the actors involved, and investigate the drivers and enabling factors behind jaguar trade. We distinguished between concrete evidence and strong beliefs or assumptions, thereby highlighting key areas for conservation action and of uncertainty. Our results suggest that jaguar trade is present in Belize and Guatemala, although current examples suggest it is a domestically-focused and opportunistic activity, rather than an organized international trade. Key drivers included human-wildlife conflict, opportunistic hunting, Chinese demand, drug trafficking, migration, and tourism. The areas of higher uncertainty are the role of external actors and drivers, and of commercial motivations. The main legal and institutional challenges to address this threat include the lack of resources, ineffectiveness of law enforcement, animosities between communities and the government, corruption, outdated legal systems, missing evidence, the lack of mandate of wildlife authorities and safety concerns. Key priorities for conservation interventions and research to prevent jaguar trade from escalating in these countries are to invest in local communities living in proximity to jaguars, while also investigating the role of external actors in jaguar trade, which remained largely uncertain throughout this study.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics of, and uncertainties about, illegal jaguar trade in Belize and Guatemala

Arias

Hinsley

Milner‐Gulland

2020

Biological Conservation

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“…Concomitant with an increase in the funding and awareness of the myriad impacts of the IWT has been a substantial increase in research on wildlife crimes and their prevention within traditional conservation-based sciences (Kahler and Gore, 2017) and green or conservation criminology (McFann and Pires, 2020). Green criminology refers to the interdisciplinary study of environmental harm, including crime, victimization, law, regulation and justice (Lynch and Stretesky, 2011), which emerged over 30 years ago as a subfield of criminology in response to increasing environmental concerns and growth in green movements and politics (McFann and Pires, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advancing Applied Research in Conservation Criminology Through the Evaluation of Corruption Prevention, Enhancing Compliance, and Reducing Recidivism

Kahler

Rivera

Steele

et al. 2021

Front. Conserv. Sci.

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Concomitant with an increase in the global illegal wildlife trade has been a substantial increase in research within traditional conservation-based sciences and conservation and green criminology. While the integration of criminological theories and methods into the wildlife conservation context has advanced our understanding of and practical responses to illegal wildlife trade, there remain discrepancies between the number of empirical vs. conceptual studies and a disproportionate focus on a few select theories, geographical contexts, and taxonomic groups. We present three understudied or novel applications of criminology and criminal justice research within the fields of fisheries, forestry, and wildlife conservation. First, we highlight criminological research on the application of corruption prevention in combating the illegal wildlife trade. Corruption has increasingly been getting attention from the non-governmental sector; however, there has been limited research aimed at understanding institutional opportunity structures, local conceptualizations of corruption, and the corresponding prevention strategies within conservation contexts. Second, we discuss the pre-emptive application of compliance theories when designing and monitoring Community-Based Conservation (CBC) programs such as community forestry, non-timber forest products, and community patrol programs. Applying opportunity theory and social development strategies are two suggestions to improve the effectiveness of CBCs in forestry and beyond. Finally, we present a discussion on recidivism (i.e., repeat offending) and non-instrumental or novel responses, utilizing illegal fishing as a case study. We present two alternative methods to traditional forms of punishment: restorative justice and community-based approaches. Lastly, we will present a diversity of priority research agendas within each of these topics.

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“…As legal and illegal wildlife markets commingle and varied traditional uses of wildlife persist, evolve and converge across the planet, there are increasingly diverse actors participating, ranging from wildlife harvesters and intermediaries, who facilitate market transactions, to the final wildlife consumers (Phelps, Biggs & Webb, 2016). Unsurprisingly, there has been an exponential increase in research on wildlife crime among practitioners and scholars within the conservation and criminological sciences (Kahler & Gore, 2017; McFann & Pires, 2018). However, wildlife crime research has been largely qualitative or conceptual in orientation (McFann & Pires, 2018), biased toward the African context, focused predominantly on mammals and tends to be aimed at understanding ‘why’ (i.e.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, wildlife crime research has been largely qualitative or conceptual in orientation (McFann & Pires, 2018), biased toward the African context, focused predominantly on mammals and tends to be aimed at understanding ‘why’ (i.e. poacher perspective) rather than ‘how’ the crime takes place (Kahler & Gore, 2017).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is very likely that Sánchez‐Mercado et al (2019) discovered ‘the tip of the RS trade iceberg (p. 10)’ in terms of the scale of illegal harvest, the actors involved, and the geographic scope. Studies like this are paramount to advance more robust conservation crime science (Kahler & Gore, 2017) and craft more nuanced and context‐specific interventions.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Alarm call: innovative study highlights the need for robust conservation crime science to effectively impede specialized songbird trafficking

Kahler

2020

Animal Conservation

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Conservation Crime Science

Cited by 7 publications

References 25 publications

Characteristics of, and uncertainties about, illegal jaguar trade in Belize and Guatemala

Characteristics of, and uncertainties about, illegal jaguar trade in Belize and Guatemala

Advancing Applied Research in Conservation Criminology Through the Evaluation of Corruption Prevention, Enhancing Compliance, and Reducing Recidivism

Alarm call: innovative study highlights the need for robust conservation crime science to effectively impede specialized songbird trafficking

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