The EU should advocate a demand-reduction approach to tackling the global ivory trade

The illegal wildlife trade is viewed as one of the biggest dangers to some of the world’s most threatened species. As a response to a significant increase in the practice, the European Commission adopted a Communication and launched a stakeholder consultation on the future EU approach to wildlife trafficking last year. Rosaleen Duffy writes that one of the main problems in the approach of the EU and other states has been the tendency to view wildlife trafficking as a largely criminal problem. She argues that the real focus should be on reducing the demand from consumers in target markets for ivory and other trafficked items.