Acting to End Wildlife Crime

Transnational criminal groups are exploiting the increasingly interconnected air transport system to traffic illegal flora and fauna. Aviation is committed to playing its part in stopping this illegal trade in wildlife globally, worth at least USD 20 billion per year.

IATA is working with the airline industry to assist enforcement agencies in disrupting these trafficking operations. Training for airline personnel and raising awareness among passengers, clients, and supply chain stakeholders is key. It is important to ensure that everyone—from airlines to customers—understands the signs and how to report suspicious activity.

Addressing illegal wildlife trade also supports biodiversity and sustainability goals, as protecting wildlife is vital for healthy ecosystems and climate stability.

Understanding Illegal Wildlife Trade

Illegal wildlife trade, one form of wildlife crime, is the illegal trade, smuggling, poaching, capture, or collection of legally protected animals. It is the fourth most profitable illicit trade after arms, drugs, and human trafficking, being worth billions of dollars a year. This type of trafficking also poses a threat to national security, human and animal health through disease transmission, destabilizes economies in countries where animals are poached or taken from, and impacts tourism.

Criminal networks are using the global air transport system to expedite the traffic of live animals, including endangered species and plants, and related products. These networks involved in wildlife trade are very sophisticated, and when enforcement is increased on one route, traffickers quickly adapt and shift to a different one.

But air transport is not the only means of transportation, as some items are shipped via maritime routes due to the nature of the trade.

The most commonly trafficked wildlife products come from reptiles and birds, followed by mammals, species from the marine environment, and insects. Items include rhino horns, elephant tusks, pangolin scales, and tiger or donkey skins. Several flora species are also smuggled by air, including timber and its products.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is an international agreement between governments that regulates the trade in over 40,000 species of animals and plants to avoid overexploitation. Countries have implemented this agreement to enforce its provisions.

Regulations vary, and their implications for airlines do as well. India, for example, has issued Operations Circular 02 of 2025, which indicates that airlines are responsible for the deportation of species carried into the country without proper declaration or clearance.

Taking wildlife from their natural habitats poses a serious threat to biodiversity, which has considerable potential to undermine the role that natural ecosystems play in climate stability and mitigation of climate change impacts. Addressing the illegal wildlife trade also supports the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly life on land (SDG15), with a particular target of eliminating poaching and trafficking of protected species of flora and fauna, and life below water (SDG14).

 

How the Industry Combats Illegal Wildlife Trade

The aviation industry is committed to tackling illegal wildlife trade through collective action and practical measures. The Buckingham Palace Declaration unites airlines and stakeholders around clear commitments to disrupt trafficking routes, with over 70 airlines participating. 

Resolution & Best Practices

 

In 2016, at the IATA Annual General Meeting, airline members unanimously endorsed a resolution denouncing the illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife products and pledging to partner with government authorities and conservation organizations in the fight against the trafficking of protected species.

IATA works with industry stakeholders to identify and create awareness around good practices and share technological advancements across sectors, like the shipping industry and airlines. We support pilot programs with various organizations and enforcement authorities to develop better screening techniques, helping identify species likely to be smuggled and understand the techniques traffickers use.

Partnerships

 

IATA has bolstered its efforts to tackle illegal wildlife trade by forming critical partnerships. One key initiative is a Memorandum of Understanding with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), marking a strengthened commitment to combat illegal wildlife trade and widespread use of agreed upon standards and procedures as described in the IATA Live Animals Regulations (LAR) and IATA Perishable Cargo Regulations (PCR). IATA also has a Memorandum of Understanding with the United for Wildlife initiative.

Additionally, IATA played a central role in the Reducing Opportunities for Unlawful Transport of Endangered Species (ROUTES) Partnership. We submitted an information paper to ICAO — Prevention Of Illegal Wildlife Trafficking via Commercial Aviation (pdf) — mentioning the increasing challenge of transnational criminal groups exploiting commercial aviation to traffic wildlife illegally.

For more information, watch this playlist on IATA's role in wildlife conservation.

UfW Transport Taskforce & the Buckingham Palace Declaration (BDP)

 

United for Wildlife (UfW) aims to protect endangered species from illegal wildlife trade. The UfW Transport Taskforce brings together stakeholders from across the transport industry to jointly examine the industry's role in this trade.

In 2016, the UfW Transport Taskforce members collaboratively developed the Buckingham Palace Declaration (BPD), an agreement to commit to taking real steps to shut down the routes exploited by traffickers of the illegal wildlife trade in the moving of their products.

The BDP comprises 11 commitments aimed to help support the private sector in fighting the illegal wildlife trade and provide an action plan to strengthen defences against trafficking.

Together with IATA, over 70 airlines have also signed the Buckingham Palace Declaration, as well as several other aviation stakeholders, underlining the aviation industry’s commitment to helping end this trade. For more information on how to be a signatory, please contact info@unitedforwildlife.org. 

Reducing Opportunities for Unlawful Transport of Endangered Species (ROUTES) Partnership

 

This USAID-led initiative brought together transport and logistics companies, government agencies, development groups, law enforcement, conservation organizations, academia, and donors to disrupt illegal wildlife trade activities. It formed a key element of the concerted international response to addressing wildlife poaching and associated criminal activities worldwide. The ROUTES Partnership ended in 2022.

Illegal Wildlife Trade & International Biodiversity Frameworks

 

Biodiversity frameworks can help monitor and report illegal wildlife trade data, together with strategies that improve existing practices on combating this form of trafficking.

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted in the United Nations Biodiversity Conference of the Parties (COP) 15, highlights the protection of wild species and the need for sustainable wildlife management.

The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standard on biodiversity guide organizations in reporting risks and impacts.

 

> Guidance & Materials for Airlines

Guidance for Airlines

Compliance with the Buckingham Palace Declaration

 

IATA has developed the Wildlife Module (pdf) as part of the IATA Environmental Assessment (IEnvA) certification program. It contains the Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) that form the basis of compliance set by the 11 commitments of the Buckingham Palace Declaration on fighting illegal wildlife trade.

To date, 11 airlines have achieved the IEnvA-IWT certification.

Guidance & Materials for Airline Staff

 

IATA has developed several guidance and made available awareness materials in collaboration with partner organizations.

Documents:

Modules & video materials:

Educating Passengers about Illegal Wildlife Trade

 

IATA has produced a passenger awareness video on illegal wildlife trade. A version features a bonus story on seahorses, showcasing how marine wildlife can be trafficked. Another features a bonus story on ivory, that adds an example to show how iconic species are trafficked.

These examples highlight the trafficking of different species and the use of different regions as transit locations.

Video with bonus story on seahorses

Video with bonus story on ivory

For regional awareness-raising videos featuring celebrities, check out WildAid’s video playlists.