Between 2015 and 2020, 93.3% of environmental crimes in Spain were not prosecutedAccording to research conducted by WWF in collaboration with the International Center for Environmental Law Studies (CIEDA-CIEMAT), the University of Granada (UGR), and the Institute for Advanced Social Studies (IESA-CSIC). Specifically, out of 4,902 registered cases, 327, ie 6.67%, received court decisions.
The report states, for example, that 1,773 crime cases attraction to protected speciesonly a total of 15 resulted in penalties. 1,899 reported cases species poisoningFor their part, they only managed to end up with a sentence 26 times.
The results of the report were presented at a technical conference this week. wildlife crime It was held in the meeting room of the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Struggle (MITECO).
During the sessions, different experts discussed the magnitude and effects of poaching, as well as the aims and motivations of the Spanish Plan of Action against Illegal Traffic and International Wild Species Poaching (TIFIES).
“Environmental crimes are highly technical crimes that require extensive research and expertise. “You have to work from the base, you have to take cases and you don’t have to settle,” said José Antonio Alfaro, head of Europol’s Environmental Crime Fighting Team.
Among the crimes of an environmental nature, species tradeIt is “the third most lucrative illicit business (arms and drug trafficking) worldwide”, as explained by Diana Pérez-Arana, Division Head of the region responsible for the TIFIES plan at MITECO, in the black market. 10,000 and 23,000 million euros per year.
“exponential” increase
In recent years, this activity has experienced “exponential” growth and has become more prominent in the smuggling of certain species such as rhinos, elephants or tigers, among others. Thus, at the time of Pérez-Arana’s presentation, in just seven years from 2007 to 2014, lRhino poaching rate increased by ‘7,000 percent’increasing from 13 instances killed for the same purpose to 1200.
Removal of species from their natural habitat can produce a ‘cascading effect’. disrupts the balance in the ecosystem and affects other species. In addition to this habitat deformation, there is also the “voluntary release of these pets,” which can become “invasive alien species with all the problems these species have for biodiversity,” as Pérez-Arana explains.
As Zebensui Morales-Reyes, a researcher at the Institute for Advanced Social Sciences (IESA-CSIC), points out, Smuggling of live specimens is the main form of smuggling in Spain, followed by coral smuggling at 15 percent.
“It’s not a Spanish-specific problem, it’s a total 74 countries involved in the export of the species 5 of them are intermediary countries and 11 of them are target countries,” he said.
Within the framework of the TIFIES Plan, speakers highlighted “prevention, improving compliance with the implementation of regulations and international cooperation” as the priorities of this regulation. Likewise, WWF reiterated that specialization among representatives of the judicial chain should be increased in order to increase the number of environmental crimes prosecuted and to prevent them from being committed or unresolved solely through administrative channels.
WWF research, poaching (1,773 cases) leads to crimes against wildlife, This was followed by poisoning (1,899 cases) and the use or possession of illegal catching (446).
“Lack of awareness is one of the main drivers of wildlife crime, and for its part, the exchange of information, cross-border collaboration at the national and inter-agency level, and the increase in specialization in the police and judicial chain are crucial to addressing the complexity of these crimes,” explained Morales-Reyes. .
In the fight against such crimes, MITECO cooperates jointly with the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Finance, with contributions from the Department for Nature Conservation (SEPRONA). surveillance of the entry of such goods through customsas well as with the Environmental Coordinator’s Office of the Prosecutor.
The Ministry of the Interior, together with MITECO — with the contribution of the Nature Conservation Service (SEPRONA) — in this plan, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance, has implemented customs to monitor the entry of such goods.
“Cooperation with SEPRONA is basically agent training and support in operations to remind them of key issues that make the operation easier, more functional and more efficient”, noted Pérez-Arana.
Other criminal activity
At the international level, Europol’s cooperation makes it possible to monitor and identify organizations behind environmental crimes in terms of species smuggling and waste smuggling. As José Antonio Alfaro, head of the Europol Environmental Crime Team explains, the European body prepares reports (SOCTA) and in each – through the COSI body – contains recommendations for the commission to ultimately send to the Council.
“Spain is doing its homework and has also always been co-leader of these priorities from the beginning and we can continue to improve over the next few years,” said Alfaro.
It also warned: Most cases of intra-European smuggling are linked to money laundering and corruption.
Species smuggling is associated with other criminal activities (extortion, tax evasion, money laundering, drug trafficking or illegal trade and others), according to José María Galván, a member of the National Plan to Combat Illegal Traffic and International Anti-Poaching. “Many blind spots” and “lack of surveillance” in transnational traffic as a whole.
Both Alfaro and Galván reiterated the current danger of mobilizing pathogens posed by the fragmentation of ecosystems, based on the 2017 National Security Report and the December 2021 report.
The full report is here: https://wwfes.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/dossier_investigacion_swipe_2023_v3.pdf
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Contact address of the environment department: [email protected]