Drugs Crime and Terrorism
The Lacey Act as a model for wildlife trade legislation
How can and should the trade in wildlife be regulated? In this article, a group of legal researchers take a closer look at the United States Lacey Act. This legislation prohibits the possession of wildlife that has been illegally harvested in, or illegally traded from, anywhere in the world, and it has been viewed by some observers as a potential model for other countries. Analysing the Lacey Act from an international perspective, the authors explore implications of this law and the possibility that other countries could adapt it for their own legal systems, concluding that it does have the potential to be used as a model for legislation in different jurisdictions.
Reconciling competing policy approaches to wildlife crime
Conservationists may be roughly divided into three groups whose approaches to wildlife protection appear at odds with one another. Animal rights activists are drawn to a straightforward prohibitionist approach: simply ban the trade in wild species. An opposed constituency argues that these creatures will not survive if they have no economic purpose, and that a regulated international trade is essential for conservation. A third group puts the empowerment of local communities first, rejecting what they see as a neo-colonial dimension to the wildlife protection discourse. The author argues that, as is the case with illegal drugs, the appropriate policy approach depends on the context. There can be no shortcut for understanding the particular dynamics of each wildlife trafficking flow, and pragmatism must trump ideology if we are to have any hope of preserving vulnerable species.
The motivations of elephant poachers in the Central African Republic
Why does a poacher decide to pull the trigger? Understanding this motivation is very important, because the illegal wildlife trade is different from other illicit markets, such as drug trafficking. With most forms of contraband, the social harm is felt when the commodity is used in the destination market. Wildlife is the reverse: the damage is done when the animal or plant is harvested at source. Interviews with poachers and community members in the Central African Republic reveal that price of ivory in destination markets is only one of a number of reasons why a hunter might choose to shoot an elephant. For local people, the meat may represent more value than the ivory, and some poachers may be motivated more by tradition than profit. These dynamics should inform the development of elephant protection strategies.
Illegal rhino horn trade in Nhi Khe, Viet Nam
The village of Nhi Khe in Viet Nam caters to tourists mainly interested in ornamental objects made from rhinoceros horn, rather than medicine. Based on field collection of selling prices, the research finds a much lower average price for raw horn than is commonly reported: about US$26,000 per kilogram, rather than the US$60,000 widely cited. It is unclear whether this difference represents a declining trend in the price of horn, or is simply an artefact of exaggerated claims in the past. If it is the latter, this is disturbing, since inflated values can actually provide an incentive for further wildlife crime. The research also found a further price decline over 26 months of observation, down to about US$18,000, suggesting that supply may have outstripped demand. This could be good news for the rhinoceros, at least in the short term.
Preface
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), based in Vienna. It is published in the six official languages of the United Nations: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
The rapid rise of rosewood trafficking in West Africa
In some situations, better legislation might have prevented an ecological catastrophe. One such example is the recent extraction of thousands of tons of an environmentally important timber species in West Africa. In the absence of appropriate laws, this resource—though illegally exported—was legally imported. The article provides a case study of the tremendous challenges surrounding legal and equitable resource extraction in many developing countries. As the economies of these countries will be based on natural resource extraction for the foreseeable future, management of this process will deeply inform the way these countries develop. And because they are poor, these countries will require international assistance to regulate extraction.
前言
《犯罪与社会问题论坛》是由设于维也纳的联合国毒品和犯罪问题办公室（毒罪问题办公室）发行的一份联合国销售出版物，以联合国六种正式语文出版：阿拉伯文、中文、英文、法文、俄文和西班牙文。
可作为一种野生生物贸易立法示范模式的 《雷斯法案》
野生生物贸易应当如何进行监管？在本文中，一个法律研究人员团队 仔细研究了美国的《雷斯法案》。这项立法禁止拥有在世界任何地方非法 收获或非法交易的野生生物。一些观察家认为这是一种可供其他国家仿 效的潜在示范模式。本文作者从国际视角分析了《雷斯法案》，探讨了该 法案的深远影响以及其他国家可根据其本国法律制度修改适用该法案的 可能性。他们得出的结论是：该法案的确具有可被用作不同法域的一种 立法示范模式的潜力。
协调相互竞争的野生生物犯罪应对策略
自然环境保护主义者，按其各自在野生生物保护方面彼此迥异的主张， 大致可分为三类。动物权利活动家倾向于直截了当地予以禁止：即一律 禁止野生物种的贸易。对此持反对意见的群体认为，如果这些动物没有 经济目的，它们就无法生存下去，因此有监管的国际贸易对于保护环境 至关重要。第三个群体则将向当地社区的赋权放在第一位，反对在他们 看来是野生生物保护专题讨论中的一个新殖民思维。本文作者的观点是， 与非法药物的情况一样，得当的政策方针取决于具体情况。我们需要努 力了解每一起具体的野生生物贩运流的特殊动态，而在此方面没有任何 捷径可走。意识形态需要让位于实用主义，我们才有希望保护那些脆弱 的物种。
西非红木贩运迅猛兴起
在某些情况下，更好的立法可能会防止生态灾难。最近在西非有数千吨 具有环境重要性的木材物种被采伐。在没有适当法律的情况下，此类资 源虽然属于非法出口，但却是合法进口的。文章中针对许多发展中国家 在以合法和公平方式进行资源开采方面面临的巨大挑战进行了案例研究。 鉴于这些中国家的经济在可预见的将来仍将以开发自然资源为主，因此 如何对这一进程实行管理将深刻地影响这些国家的发展模式。此外，由 于这些国家处于贫穷状态，因此这些国家在规范其开采活动方面需要从 国际上得到援助。
越南泥坷村(Nhi Khe)的非法犀牛角贸易
越南的泥坷村(Nhi Khe)招揽和迎合的游客主要是对犀牛角制成的装饰 物感兴趣，而非药物。根据在现场询问下来的各种销售价格，研究人员 发现生犀角的平均价格比通常报道的要低得多：即每公斤约26,000美元， 而不是一直广为传说的每公斤6万美元。目前尚不清楚的是，此种差异 表明了犀角价格不断下跌的趋势，抑或仅仅是过去夸大其词的产物。如 果是后者，那情况就太令人不安了，因为犀角价值被如此夸大无异于诱 导和刺激进一步的野生生物犯罪。研究人员还发现，在为时26个月的观 察期内，犀角价格出现了进一步下降，降至每公斤约18,000万美元，这 表明供应量可能已经超过需求量。这对犀牛来说可能是个好消息，至少 在短期内是如此。
中非共和国大象偷猎者的动机
促使偷猎者决定扣下扳机的原因是什么？理解这一动机非常重要，因为 非法野生生物贸易不同于诸如毒品贩运等其他非法市场。对于大多数形 式的违禁品来说，当商品在目的地市场投入使用时，相关的社会危害便 会产生。野生生物的情况却正好相反：当动物或植物从源头上被猎杀或 被采伐时，伤害或破坏随即产生。通过对中非共和国偷猎者和相关社区 成员的采访了解到，象牙在目的地市场的价格只是狩猎者选择射杀大象 的若干原因之一。对当地人来说，象肉可能比象牙更有价值；一些偷猎 者更可能是受狩猎传统习俗驱动，而非为了追逐利润。这些动态情况应 能为大象保护战略的制定工作提供所需信息。