Activities of Carolina PUNSET related to 2016/2076(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
EU action plan against wildlife trafficking (debate) ES
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the EU Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking
Amendments (19)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas around 70% of the world’s poor live in rural areas and depend directly on biological diversity for their livelihoods; whereas the protection of biodiversity is therefore important for sustainable livelihoods and pro-poor development; whereas conversely, the involvement of local communities can be crucial for success in such protection;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas global biodiversity and ecosystem services are under threat due to land use changes, unsustainable use of natural resources, pollution and climate change; in particular, whereas many endangered species face greater challenges than before owing to rapid urbanisation, loss of habitat and illegal wildlife trade;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas wildlife protection can, however, have a considerable price for local communities, as some species are dangerous to humanconflict between people and animals, which result from loss of habitats and growing needs of humans, constitutes a major threat to the continued survival of many species in different parts of the world; whereas forest loss cand destroy plantations and other property or kill livestockgradation is mostly caused by the expansion of agricultural land, intensive harvesting of timber, wood for fuel and other forest products, as well as overgrazing; whereas wild species which come into contact with humans are often killed or captured; whereas confronting armed poachers can be utterly risky;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas elephants and rhinoceros are most prominent among the animals being killed to feed rising demand for their tusks and horns across the world; whereas poachers may be driven by poverty or are exploited by criminal organisations seeking to recruit hunters with knowledge of the local terrain;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas illegal wildlife trade involves poachers, armed non-state actors from source countries, international crime groups and institutional corruption across global network chains and a range of players involved in demand countries; whereas wildlife trafficking fuels instability and undermines security;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses that EUs Policy Coherence strategy enshrined in the Treaties has to take duly account of wildlife protection and underlines the critical role of biodiversity in Sustainable Development Goals and supports the B4Life flagship initiative on biodiversity protection, implemented in particular via the European Development Fund and the Development Cooperation Instrument, as well as objective 1.2 of the EU Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking relating to rural communities; calls on the Commission to ensure that relevant actions are consistent with the fundamental poverty reduction objective of EU development policy, sustainable forestry policies, reflect the potential of local communities to contribute to wildlife protection, and include creative solutions, adapted to local conditions, to human- wildlife conflicts, impact on food security, natural habitat and ecosystems;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Considers that the wealth of Africa’s populations is largely dependent on its wildlife and rural poverty is a fundamental element of poaching at the field level;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Stresses that the wildlife protection, mostly targeted on conservation of ecosystems and landscapes supporting main African wildlife populations, must be a key element in EU poverty reduction strategies;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. Strongly supports ongoing legal reforms in concerned countries that allow for the devolution of rights ownership over wildlife to local people;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 d (new)
Paragraph 1 d (new)
1d. Recalls that biodiversity and resilient ecosystems support livelihoods, enhance food and nutrition security, enable access to water and to health and contribute significantly to climate change mitigation and adaptation; accordingly, deems crucial to protect biodiversity and ecosystem services to ensure sustainable livelihoods contribute to poverty reduction worldwide;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 e (new)
Paragraph 1 e (new)
1e. Takes the view that wildlife and forest crime should be treated with the same attention as any other transnational organised crime; consequently, law enforcement should not limit itself to poachers, but target as well the higher echelons of organised crime;
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 f (new)
Paragraph 1 f (new)
1f. Urges governments of the supply countries to: (i) improve the rule of law and create effective deterrents by strengthening criminal investigation, prosecution and sentencing; (ii) enact stronger laws treating illicit wildlife trafficking as a ‘serious crime’ deserving the same level of attention and gravity as other forms of transnational organised crime; (iii) allocate more resources to combating wildlife crime, particularly to strengthen wildlife law enforcement, trade controls, monitoring, and customs detection and seizure; (iv) to commit to a zero-tolerance policy on corruption;
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 g (new)
Paragraph 1 g (new)
1g. Stresses that collective interventions at the global level are needed to counter wildlife crime, including its financial dimension through international cooperation on anti-money laundering; stresses equally the need to launch awareness-raising campaigns to curb the demand for wildlife products;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 h (new)
Paragraph 1 h (new)
1h. Urges supply, transit and demand countries to deepen their levels of cooperation to combat illegal wildlife trade along the entire chain; to this end, calls equally for increased cooperation between i.e. INTERPOL, World Customs Organisation, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC);
Amendment 44 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 i (new)
Paragraph 1 i (new)
1i. Calls on the EU to upgrade its financial and technical support through DCI and EDF in developing countries to implement national wildlife regulations in line with CITES recommendations, particularly for those with insufficient resources to enforce legislation and prosecute smugglers;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Underlines that poverty and weak administrations enable criminals to corrupt poorly paid officials of enforcement authorities; Stresses the need to responsibly manage the risks associated with combating poaching, which is often perpetrated by heavily armed and well- organised criminal groups; highlights that widespread corruption, institutional weakness, state erosion, mismanagement and weak penalties for wildlife crime are major challenges to address to combat effectively transnational wildlife trafficking; urges the EU to support developing countries in their efforts to reduce poaching incentives by improving economic opportunities and promoting good governance; providing training and support to agencies addressing the illegal wildlife trade; and raising awareness of the illegal trade in wildlife;
Amendment 61 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Calls for reinforced international accountability mechanisms and for urgent policy and legal improvements to stop the trafficking and the demand for wildlife and forest products; law enforcement should not limit itself to poachers but target as well the higher echelons of organised crime;
Amendment 63 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Stresses that the harmonisation of policies and legal frameworks is particularly important with respect to wildlife crime in order to avoid the ‘migration’ of wildlife criminal networks;
Amendment 64 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4c. Urges EU and all its Member States to expand support for international trade regulation and to definitely close domestic ivory markets and destroy any stockpiles of ivory;