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Combating Wildlife Trafficking

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The AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships Program and Biodiversity Affinity Group invite you to a half-day long symposium to discuss the complexities and interdependence of Wildlife Trafficking and multi-factorial drivers. The illicit trade in wildlife and wildlife parts is now a multi-billion industry decimating iconic animal populations, undermining security across nations, and threatening ecosystems, food security, human health, and livelihoods among the world’s poorest communities. The symposium will gather together leading experts to discuss the challenges of developing, implementing, and evaluating policies addressing the impacts of wildlife trafficking on biodiversity, development, human health, law enforcement, and regional security. Experts from federal agencies, intergovernmental organizations, law enforcement groups, and NGOs will present on and discuss existing policies, policy successes and failures, and how to adaptively manage policy moving forward.

Outcomes will include assessments of existing domestic and international policy, and ways to communicate more effectively and coordinate efforts for combating the illegal trade in wildlife. Communicating accurate and reliable data on threats to wildlife populations from poaching and illicit global trade is critical for informing decision-makers and implementing effective conservation, monitoring, and law enforcement measures, with implications for improving regional security and economic prosperity. 

Speaker Bios (updated April 3, 2015)

                                                                  AGENDA

1:00 p.m.

Welcome/Introduction
Roberto Delgado, AAAS S&T Policy Fellow, National Science Foundation

1:10 p.m.

Policy at the National Level: Consequences for Wildlife Populations
Sue Lieberman, Wildlife Conservation Society

1:30 p.m.

Session 1: Transnational Organized Crime and Law Enforcement: Implications for Governance and Security 
Intro: Nathan Gregory, AAAS S&T Policy Fellow, U.S. Agency for International Development
Keynote: Crawford Allan, World Wildlife Fund
Discussants: Craig Hoover, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service & Mary Rowen, U.S. Agency for International Development

2:30 p.m.

Networking Coffee Break Activity
Facilitator: Daphne Carlson Bremer, AAAS S&T Policy Fellow, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

3:00 p.m.

Session 2: Impacts on Food Security and Global Health
Intro: Roberto Delgado
Keynote: Beth Kerttula, National Ocean Council 
Discussants: Jon Epstein, EcoHealth Alliance & Kim Reuter, Conservation International

4:00 p.m.

Session 3: Socioeconomic Drivers and Consumer Demand
Intro: Catherine Workman, AAAS S&T Policy Fellow, U.S. Agency for International Development
Keynote: Grace Gabriel, International Fund for Animal Welfare
Discussants: Mary Blair, American Museum of Natural History &Valerie Hickey, World Bank