INTERPOL receives €2 million funding
Two million euros is to be contributed to INTERPOL by the European Commission in support of its efforts to combat wildlife crime and protect the world’s natural resources from the illegal international trade in wild flora and fauna.
The funding, worth 1.73 million EUR, will be used over the next three years to help support the world police body’s Project Combat Wildlife Crime under the umbrella of the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC). This also includes the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Secretariat, the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the World Bank (WB), and the World Customs Organisation (WCO).
Founded in 2010, the ICCWC is a collaborative effort that provides coordinated support to national wildlife law enforcement agencies and sub-regional and regional networks. They contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and promote better governance for the management of natural resources in developing countries.
Project Combat Wildlife Crime is aimed at ensuring long-term capacity building, improved international information and intelligence exchange, and the coordination of enforcement efforts through the support of government authorities in the wildlife and forestry administration from source, transit and consumer countries.
Janez Potočnik, European Commissioner for the Environment, commented: "Few people witness environmental crime, but its effects are global. This support from the European Commission will significantly assist INTERPOL and its partners under the ICCWC to more effectively tackle the theft of natural resources from some of the poorest countries in the world and target the criminals who are making millions in this illicit trade.”
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