Olivia Swaak-Goldman: Taking Down the King Pins of Wildlife Trafficking

"It's really about bringing the skills and the tools and the techniques that we've already developed and addressing other forms of transnational or international crimes - and applying them to this area that had long been forgotten." – Olivia Swaat-Goldman

Olivia Swaak-Goldman is the executive director of the Wildlife Justice Commission, an organization that goes around the world fighting transnational organized crime against wildlife — like an animal-focused justice league, with a mission to disrupt and help dismantle organized transnational criminal networks that are trading in wildlife, timber, and fish.

Wildlife trafficking is the fourth largest illegal trade globally, after drugs, humans, and arms. Before the Wildlife Justice Commission was formed, governments were not focused on going after the heads of these trafficking organizations. There was a lack of prioritization on wildlife crime.

And since they formed in 2015, the Wildlife Justice Commission has helped to secure the arrests of 155 wildlife criminals and taken down 35 criminal networks.

The Wildlife Justice Commission's work is more important now then ever, as we are losing species at alarming rates and there are so many more at risk of extinction within our lifetimes.

"The Wildlife Justice Commission was created in order to go after high-level criminals. It's the same thing with drugs in a way, if you just go after the dealer on the corner, you're not going to be tremendously successful. You've got to do that but you need to go after the masterminds of the networks in order to get them arrested and successfully prosecuted and, also important… a seizure of assets… make it hurt, make them feel it.

Then they're going to think twice about doing this, especially in an area where we are losing so many species and at risk of losing so many. The quicker we can get them to be doing something else, that the more biodiversity we can save." – Olivia Swaak-Goldman

LINKS:

Wildlife Justice Commission: https://wildlifejustice.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WildlifeJusticeCommission/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WJCommission