8 Amendments of Eleni THEOCHAROUS related to 2016/2076(INI)
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas wildlife trafficking is not a new phenomenon, but its scale, nature and impacts have changed considerably in recent years, with poaching reaching unprecedented levels for some species
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas wildlife crime, is a serious transnationally organised criminal business worldwide, with an annual turnover of at least USD 19 billion, and is now the fourth largest illegal activity in the world, with devastating effects for biodiversity and negative impact on the rule of law due to its close links with corruption; notably in some regions in Africa, it has a very negative impact on the potential for economic development
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Recital B c (new)
Recital B c (new)
Bc. whereas the EU has an important role to play in tackling this traffic, as Europe is currently a destination market and a hub for trafficking in transit to other regions; it is also a region from which certain species are sourced for illegal trade
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Supports the B4Life flagship initiative on biodiversity protection, implemented in particular via the European Development Fund and the Development Cooperation Instrument, as well as objective 1.2 of the EU Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking relating to rural communities; calls on the Commission to ensure that relevant actions are consistent with the fundamental poverty reduction objective of EU development policy, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goal 15, reflect the potential of local communities to contribute to wildlife protection, and include creative solutions, adapted to local conditions, to human-wildlife conflicts;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Calls the European Commission and the Council to leverage their trade and development instruments to establish dedicated programmes to strengthen the implementation of CITES and provide resources for capacity-building against poaching and trafficking, in particular by supporting, strengthening and expanding enforcement initiatives such as ASEAN- WEN (ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network), HA-WEN (horn of Africa Wildlife enforcement Network), LATF (Lusaka Agreement Task Force), which aim to establish regional centres of expertise and provide models for cooperation against wildlife crime;
Amendment 49 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses the need to responsibly manage the risks associated with combating poaching, which is often perpetrated by heavily armed and well- organised criminal groups; as well as the need for targeted awareness-raising amongst specialists on organised crime and money laundering;
Amendment 56 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Calls for support for private-sector initiatives in order to curb the illegal wildlife trade and encourage sustainable sourcing of wildlife products in/from Europe
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Calls, in implementing the EU Action Plan, for closer and constructive cooperation between stakeholders, including civil society organisations and relevant business sectors to make more effective use of existing tools and policies and strengthen the synergies between them in order to ensure maximum impact in addressing wildlife trafficking across the EU and globally;