A new website was launched this month by environmentalists that allows people to anonymously report wildlife crimes.
The illegal wildlife trade is huge across the globe, estimated at $US19 billion annually and often supported by organised crime. Yet it is probably the most underfunded criminal activity in terms of investigation and law enforcement. Sadly tackling wildlife crimes is not a priority for many of the world’s governments and prosecution is rare. This lack of action means species are actually going extinct because of it.
Enter Wildleaks where any person can enter information securely and anonymously. People can submit documents, videos and images relating to what the site calls wildlife and forest crimes (forest crimes includes illegal logging.) Encryption means that these submissions are anonymous and this is vital given that much wildlife crime around the globe is actually supported by corrupt government officials and employees.
“Wildlife crimes very often go undetected and unchallenged when people do not speak up about them, and whistle-blowers can play a crucial role in fighting back, creating awareness and doing justice”, says Andrea Crosta, co-Founder of the Elephant Action League and project leader of WildLeaks.
Snow leopards also suffer from illegal poaching in all range countries and we hope this website will encourage anyone who has information about it to use the site to expose this awful activity. We hope this is yet another tool in the fight to halt many species from their march towards extinction.
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