Obama Pledge to stop Wildlife Crime
The fight to end animal crime in Africa just gained a powerful new ally, as Barack Obama pledged to bring his considerable influence to the table. The President of the United States recently visited Tanzania as part of his tour of Africa, and made it plain for all concerned that he is supporting the WWF’s war on wildlife crime.
The President also announced a $10million pledge to support the training of new wildlife guardians to tackle this barbaric trade, right at the source. This President’s Executive Order includes –
- Improve protection in key African countries
- Task force to develop a national strategy within six months
- Recommendations from independent experts
- Review of organised crime strategy
- Elevating wildlife to that of arms, drug and human trafficking
President Obama said –
Poaching and trafficking is threatening Africa’s wildlife. Today I issued a new Executive Order to better organise US government efforts in this fight so that we can cooperate with the Tanzanian government and others. This includes an additional millions of dollars to help countries across the regions to build their capacity to meet this challenge. The entire world has a stake in making sure we preserve Africa’s beauty for future generations.
Tanzania is currently a real hot bed for criminal gangs who are slowly but surely robbing the country of its natural inhabitants. WWF is calling upon the world’s politicians, like President Obama, to join forces and try to put an end wildlife crime. It’s great to see a man as powerful as Mr Obama joining the fight to protect the world’s animals. Hopefully his stand will be seen by other world leaders, and spur them on to become part of the movement before it’s too late.
If you would like to help WWF continue their fight to be an end to the illicit trade in wildlife, why not adopt an animal through our dedicated page? Your small monthly donation goes a long way to providing key funds to help protect the world most endangered species.
