Poaching Wildlife Trafficking and Security in Africa

<p>A worldwide surge in poaching and wildlife trafficking is threatening to decimate endangered species. This crisis also threatens the security of human beings in ways ignored until recently by decision-makers slow to begin to treat what is typically viewed as a ‘conservation issue’ as serious crime.</p><p>Over the past decade as the scale and profitability of poaching and wildlife trafficking have grown politicians journalists and campaigners throughout the world have begun to take notice – they are offering striking appraisals of the threat posed not only to endangered species but also to human populations. Many of these appraisals however are made in the absence of a detailed body of empirical research and analysis to underpin them. The result is the growth of a range of myths and misperceptions around the security threats posed particularly as they relate to Africa.</p><p>Poaching Wildlife Trafficking and Security in Africa examines the most common narratives on poaching wildlife trafficking and security. It critically analyses the dominant discourses on poaching and wildlife trafficking as threats to human security as drivers of conflict as funders of terrorism and as a focus for organised crime. In doing so it seeks to sort myth from reality to clarify how poaching and wildlife trafficking as much cited threats to security can most accurately be conceived. Such a study is crucial to the efforts of stakeholders now rightly looking to respond not just to the threat posed to endangered species but also to the security and wellbeing of human beings.</p>