TRAFFIC Bulletin. © TRAFFIC.
Report on elephant and ivory trade in Thailand. © TRAFFIC
In 2009/10, The Rufford Foundation provided a grant of £50,000 to TRAFFIC.
The Rufford Foundation is a critical source of support for TRAFFIC’s efforts to ensure that trade in wild species is not a threat to the conservation of nature. During 2009/10, funding from the Foundation is being used to address illegal and unsustainable trade in the timber and marine fisheries sectors and to strengthen communication of trade issues in these and other areas.
Work on timber and fisheries focused on catalysing greater government action and cross-collaboration in tightening trade controls. Efforts to help improve customs controls for timber in Asia gained momentum, while in South America, TRAFFIC sought to increase CITES action to stop illegal and unsustainable trade in mahogany and began exploring links between new EU and US import controls and improvements in logging and timber trade controls. Work to reduce illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fisheries focused on increasing inter-governmental action, particularly in relation to shark and tuna species.
The Rufford Foundation funding continued to underpin editorial support for TRAFFIC’s growing publications portfolio, supporting communication of research results and recommendations to a global audience. Issues covered were as diverse as the trade itself, ranging from trade controls for endangered species such as tigers to methods for ensuring sustainability in the medicinal plant trade. Funding also supported production of the TRAFFIC Bulletin, the world’s only journal focusing on wildlife trade, provided in print to nearly 4500 policy-makers, researchers, enforcement officials, conservation and development professionals, teachers and students in over 150 countries, and freely available on the web.
