The document summarizes WCS's efforts to combat illegal wildlife trade and poaching in Uganda through engaging Chinese enterprises. It discusses WCS's vision of wildlife thriving globally. It then outlines that WCS aims to conserve over 50% of global biodiversity while benefiting people. It provides background on elephant poaching reducing Uganda's population from 30,000 to 2,000 and discusses targeting demand from China. WCS's project focuses on changing behavior of high-risk Chinese businesses in Uganda to reduce ivory demand and poaching pressure.

1. Combating illegal wildlife Trade (IWT)and Counter
Wildlife Trafficking (CWT)
Simon Takozekibi Nampindo, Helen Mwiza,
Paul Mulondo, & Geoffrey Mwedde
May 4, 2018

2. VISION:
WCS envisions a world where wildlife thrives in healthy lands and seas, valued by
societies that embrace and benefit from the diversity and integrity of life on earth.
MISSION:
WCS saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation
action, education, and inspiring people to value nature.
GOAL:
The conservation of more than 50 percent of the world’s biological diversity while
ensuring a positive impact on millions of people globally.
www.wcsuganda.org www.wcs.org www.albertinerift.org

3. WCS has been
supporting conservation
in Uganda since 1957
 Current focus : Greater
Virunga Landscape,
Murchison‐Semliki
Landscape and the
Kidepo Landscape.
https://uganda.wcs.org/

4. Biological diversity

5. Elephant, Leopard & lion (historical range/records) in 1950s

6. HISTORY
• The 1970s and early 1980s, African elephant were massively killed due to
lawlessness and heavy commercial poaching
• The elephant population declined from an estimated 30,000 , the highest
number at the time in the world in the in 1960s to about 2,000 in the early
1980s.
• Poaching, largely for ivory and its products has increased due to the great
demand in China.
• In February 2017, the cost of ivory was $660 per kilogram, down from
$750 in of 2016, and $1,322 in 2015 on the Ugandan black market.
• Wildlife products going through Uganda are largely illegally poached from
Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South
Sudan, West Africa, and to a small extent in Uganda.

7. THE PROBLEM
• Uganda’s elephant population under threat from IWT and trafficking
• Very low reproduction rate of (one calf per female every 4.5 years), annual
population growth of about 6%.
• Poaching is largely for ivory and its products while the pangolins are for food and
scales
• The issue is exacerbated by China’s “Going Out” policy which is creating new
channels and opportunities for illegal ivory trade.
• Loss of natural heritage, threaten the safety of rural communities and now its
transnational threat, undermining revenue from wildlife tourism and national
security because of Kony’s role in the central republic
• Approximately 9,961kg of ivory and 1,375.0kg of pangolin scales have been
confiscated and significant amounts seized in shipments originating from Uganda.
Between 2011 and 2012; 72 elephants were killed for ivory. Seizure incidences of
elephant ivory and pangolins increased between 2014 and 2017
• Preliminary results from the wildlife species products seizure data collected so
far, show that, Ivory accounted for 62.5% of trafficked wildlife products followed
by Pangolin with 22.5% respectively.

9. Threatened Habitat of Uganda

10. ELEPHANT POPULATION
ESTIMATES PER SITE IN UGANDA
Site Year Population
Murchison Falls Protected Area 2014 1,330
Queen Elizabeth Protected Area 2014 2,913
Madi Corridor 2009 19
Kidepo Valley National Park 2014 550
Karenga Community Wildlife Area 2014 214
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park 2012 73
Kibale National Park 2010 ~487
Toro‐Semliki Wildlife Reserve 2013 32
Semuliki National Park 2010 30
Katonga Wildlife Reserve 2012 ~20
Other sites: MGNP, Bugoma, Kagombe, RMNP, (Kaiso Tonya,
Marabigambo, Sango Bay)
~70
UWEC (elephant in captivity) 2014 1
Total 5,739

11. WCS project focus
Engaging Chinese Enterprises to Reduce Ivory
Demand as an initiative to reduce the demand of
ivory based on behavior change in high risk
Chinese businesses operating in Uganda

12. HR policy changed in Chinese SoEs on
internal punishment on wildlife crime
KOL’s/SoE/SME promote elephant
conservation and more responsible
corporate behavior
GoC promote inclusion of wildlife issues
into CSR, HR policy guidelines and GoC
Going Out policy
Tourist sector (Airlines/Tour Operators)
promote deterrent message of law breaking
Law enforcement agencies in both China &
Africa increase ivory seizure enroute to
China
Publicize law enforcement actions and court
decisions on wildlife crimes
Chinese community networks in Africa
advocate not to buy ivory
Significant risk of seizure/penalty if
they buy/transport ivory products
Perceive the risk of carrying ivory
home equal to drugs / ivory trafficking
seizures increase from Africa to China
Buying, transporting and/or gifting of
ivory presents high risk (harmful) to their
career prospects
Numbers of incidents of ivory
trafficking involving Chinese staff of
SoEs decreases
View buying ivory overseas as harmful to
China’s national pride
Going Out Policy changed by adding
conservation message/ The number of
Chinese travellers believe buying ivory
harms China’s national pride/strategic
interests increases
Chinese
people buy
less ivory in
Africa
Reduced
poaching
pressure on
elephants

13. Engagement Plan
• WCS has identified at least twenty high risk Chinese enterprises in Kampala that it will
engage and monitor their activities to understand the level and scale of their involvement
in illegal wildlife trade
• By high risk, we mean the project locations in sensitive areas i.e. near national parks /
protected areas or involved in creating infrastructure for logistics and international
movement of goods such as ports / airports or border crossings etc.
• Other investigations are already underway to try and establish the connections or
relationship of suspects with Chinese enterprises operating in Uganda, we will update you
at a later date
• WCS has already collected some information mainly from wildlife products seizures and
suspects’ arrest on transit through Uganda and Chinese nationals’ involvement was
recorded the highest with 48% of the arrested traffickers compared to nationals of other
countries; the information will be shared with the media once the engagement is finalized
• Today, at least 300 Chinese enterprises, both State‐owned and private‐owned operate in
Uganda and an estimated population of 10,000 Chinese nationals are living in Uganda.

14. OVERALL GOAL AND SPECIFIC
OBJECTIVE
• The overarching goal to develop a scalable and
replicable model that provides the behavior
change tools and policy implementation
solutions to address wildlife trafficking and
reduce ivory demand that can be applied or used
across other range states.
• The engagement also seeks to create awareness
about the dangers of illegal trade in wildlife
products, identify and design possible incentives
to discourage future involvement of Chinese
nationals in illegal wildlife trade and wildlife
trafficking.

15. FRAMEWORKS
• The African elephants are classified as vulnerable by the IUCN
• Uganda Wildlife Policy 2014
• Its protection under the Uganda Wildlife Act Cap 200 of 2000
• African Elephant Action Plan‐localized now
• Frameworks
• The Uganda Constitution (1995)
• National Environment Act 1995 (Cap 153 of 2000)
• The Uganda Wildlife Policy (2014)
• The Uganda Wildlife Act Cap 200 of 2000
• National Biodiversity Strategy
• Vision 2040
• African Elephant Action Plan (2010)
• African Elephant Conservation Act of 1988
• Elephant Protection Initiative (EPI)
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)
• Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) of 1979
• East African Community Protocol on Environment and Natural Resources
• International Convention on Biological Diversity.

16. Project OUTCOMES
• Poaching of elephants and trade in elephant products
and wildlife species is stopped
• Education and awareness about wildlife conservation
in Uganda is raised among Chinese nationals and
general public
• collaboration, resource mobilization and management
and tangible benefits from elephant conservation
accruing to Ugandans is increased
• Opportunities for partnership with Chinese
Enterprises is strengthened

17. Questions?
the floor is yours