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Crossing the Tracks: The Legal Implications of Establishing a Wildlife Friendly Corridor Along the Trans-Mongolia Railway
September 2022 Establishing a wildlife friendly corridor for the Trans-Mongolia Railway (TMR) is a story about two sides of the tracks, as much for Mongolia's wildlife as it is for its laws. Looking at its laws, on one side is a strong international basis and a national legal system that not only recognizes this but has started on the path to implementing it. But this legal journey is not yet complete, and on the other side are long-standing railway practices and a regulatory system directed at safety and designed to prevent crossing. This report, produced by Legal Atlas and the Wildlife Conservation Society, examines the legal implications of establishing such a corridor, weighing the application of the Convention on Migratory Species and Mongolia's national laws supporting this effort against those laws that establish safety requirements for the railway sector. |
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To and Through the Gulf: IWT Routes and Legal Environment
February 2022 Rapid review and compilation of IWT related legal frameworks for the GCC Countries - Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE. Report highlights the variety of laws in place, as well as gaps and needs for harmonization between the GCC and numerous other countries that supply wildlife or for which the GCC acts as a wildlife trade hub. The Gulf Region uses several types of laws to regulate wildlife trade, ranging from Environmental Protection laws to Dangerous Animals to anti-money laundering laws. However, no GCC country explicitly criminalizes all activities along the entire trade chain for illegally sourced wildlife. Specific acts of ‘processing,' ‘possessing,’ and ‘consuming’ illegally sourced wildlife, for example, are not expressly criminalized in any. |
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Legal Assessment of the Implementation of the Convention on Migratory Species and the Gorilla Agreement in Cameroon and Nigeria.
December 2021 This study is focused on the legal protection of two endangered animal species: the Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli) and the Nigerian-Cameroon chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes ellioti). The study is based on specific inquiries directed at the national laws and regulations of Cameroon and Nigeria to verify implementation of a selection of the standards set by several CMS instruments (Annexes I, II, III, and IV). In total, the study addresses 23 questions directed at both countries, and additional jurisdiction-specific inquiries (seven for Cameroon and five for Nigeria). Annex V includes the complete list of legal inquiries used for the assessment, referencing the international standards used as the basis of each inquiry. |
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The mitigation hierarchy in environmental impact assessment and related legislation as a tool for species conservation: A case study of western chimpanzees and mining development
August 2021 Led by the University of Kent’s Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), lead author Tom Evans and co-authors James Wingard (Legal Atlas) and Tanya Hummel (DICE), this report reviews EIA and related legislation in all eight western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) range countries to assess how well these legal frameworks incorporate the mitigation hierarchy, focusing specifically on mining activity. The critically endangered western chimpanzee is at the nexus of the conflict between human development and habitat protection, with 83% of the subspecies occurring outside protected areas. To protect western chimpanzee habitat, robust regulation of large-scale development, in particular through Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedures that adequately incorporate the Mitigation Hierarchy Principles (MHPs) within national legislation, is required. |
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Assessing Online Wildlife Marketing: A tool for Monitoring Illegality
August 2021 This community tool developed by Legal Atlas for the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime is based on our previous publication Building a Global Taxonomy of Wildlife Offenses and is aimed at people and organizations monitoring online markets for advertisements for live sales of endangered wildlife or wildlife products (made from endangered species). It is compiled in such a manner as to help people assess the legality (or illegality) of posts and to triage the information to identify entries that present the most compelling case for action by law enforcement. This paper provides a checklist that contains a series of targeted questions to help those monitoring internet traffic to identify the legal requirements governing online wildlife trade for a given country and guide decisions on the legality of an advertisement. Publication is available here and from the GITOC website. A checklist can also be downloaded as a spreadsheet from the MMFU website. To verify legal information, we encourage readers to obtain an account in the Legal Atlas platform. |
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Building a Global Taxonomy of Wildlife Offenses
May 2021 This publication studies in detail how different jurisdictions approach the definition of wildlife crimes in their laws, creating a first proposal for a global taxonomy of wildlife offenses. In the current edition, a total of 511 offense types have been organized into a hierarchical taxonomy that scholars and practitioners can use to support legal analyses. When assessing multiple jurisdictions, the result is a practical tool useful for comparing crimes and penalties related to fauna, making the differences clearer, highlighting where dual criminality requirements may present problems, and generally supporting efforts to harmonize wildlife trade related legislation. When applied within a single jurisdiction, it can be used to reveal gaps, highlight how laws might be enhanced to ensure enforcement personnel is better equipped to fight wildlife crime. In today's transnational crime context, this taxonomy is also a supporting tool to implement international agreements calling for minimum penalties for crimes against protected species. Overall, this is a singular contribution to the field, particularly amidst calls to reform wildlife legislation in response to fears of zoonotic disease threats and large-scale biodiversity loss. |
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Wildlife Trade, Pandemics and the Law: Fighting This Year's Virus with Last Year's Law
January 2021 As of January 22, 2021, over 97M human cases and 2.1M deaths have been reported globally due to COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2. Both figures are almost double what they were just two months prior; with infection rates and mortality still climbing. The international response has of course been strong with significant attention being given to how we can change international agreements like UNTOC and CITES. There has also been talk of prohibiting wildlife trade altogether and pursuing better management of natural resources. But zoonotic diseases are not new, and most countries have some policies in place to manage zoonotic disease risks or impacts but require re-examination in light of COVID-19. This report therefore takes a critical look at the national legal context, sampling 38 jurisdictions and asking; what have nations already done with their laws that support the monitoring and prevention of disease emergence that comes from wildlife? In particular, it examines how ten different areas of law respond to this need. In addition to the main findings, the authors provide a summary of the legal challenges and the many opportunities for immediate action. |
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Guide to Coastal and Ocean Protection Law in British Columbia
West Coast Environmental Law December 2020 This Guide, produced by West Coast Environmental Law with support from the Sitka Foundation and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, sheds light on the legal complexities for protecting marine environments in the Canadian province of British Columbia. With multiple legal designations available, provided by multiple jurisdictions (indigenous, international, federal, provincial and local), the Guide is a valuable resource on the challenges faced in spatially protecting marine areas in multi-jurisdictional areas. Legal Atlas was invited to produce several of the visual analytics that capture the legal information developed by West Coast Environmental Law. The publication is truly a valuable resource and we are confident it will server as a reference for an increasingly important area of legal development and conservation efforts. |
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Ethiopia: Wildlife Trade Legal Gap Analysis
September 2020 Part of a series of four reports, this analysis identifies policy and legal opportunities to enhance the management of wildlife in Ethiopia and increase effectiveness in combatting illegal trafficking of wildlife in general, with particular reference to cheetahs and gazelles. The analysis emphasizes opportunities to leverage international and regional conservation, trade and wildlife related treaties, as well as legal gaps in species protection and crime enforcement. The report uses a first of its kind taxonomy for wildlife offenses facilitating the rapid comparison of crime types and penalty levels between jurisdictions. |
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Somalia: Wildlife Trade Legal Gap Analysis
September 2020 Part of a series of four reports, this analysis identifies policy and legal opportunities to enhance the management of wildlife in Somalia and increase effectiveness in combatting illegal trafficking of wildlife in general, with particular reference to cheetahs and gazelles. The analysis emphasizes opportunities to leverage international and regional conservation, trade and wildlife related treaties, as well as legal gaps in species protection and crime enforcement. The report uses a first of its kind taxonomy for wildlife offenses facilitating the rapid comparison of crime types and penalty levels between jurisdictions. |
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Somaliland: Wildlife Trade Legal Gap Analysis
September 2020 Part of a series of four reports, this analysis identifies policy and legal opportunities to enhance the management of wildlife in Somaliland and increase effectiveness in combatting illegal trafficking of wildlife in general, with particular reference to cheetahs and gazelles. The analysis emphasizes opportunities to leverage international and regional conservation, trade and wildlife related treaties, as well as legal gaps in species protection and crime enforcement. The report uses a first of its kind taxonomy for wildlife offenses facilitating the rapid comparison of crime types and penalty levels between jurisdictions. |
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Yemen: Wildlife Trade Legal Gap Analysis
September 2020 Part of a series of four reports, this analysis identifies policy and legal opportunities to enhance the management of wildlife in Yemen and increase effectiveness in combatting illegal trafficking of wildlife in general, with particular reference to cheetahs and gazelles. The analysis emphasizes opportunities to leverage international and regional conservation, trade and wildlife related treaties, as well as legal gaps in species protection and crime enforcement. The report uses a first of its kind taxonomy for wildlife offenses facilitating the rapid comparison of crime types and penalty levels between jurisdictions. |
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Regional action plan for the conservation of western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) 2020–2030 IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group
June 2020 This plan outlines actions, methods and indicators, and identifies implementers for the completion of the objectives given for each strategy, with the goal of achieving a collective vision: A connected landscape where western chimpanzees and their habitats are valued, protected and thriving; ensuring mutually beneficial coexistence for current and future generations of chimpanzees and humans. Legal Atlas is a contributor to the publication (along with numerous other organizations and individuals) and identified as an implementer of the legal analyses supporting conservation work. This publication was made possible by funding from the Arcus Foundation and United States Fish & Wildlife Service. |
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Regulatory Frameworks Governing Wet Markets, Wildlife, and Zoonotic Disease RAPID SURVEY OF 37 JURISDICTIONS – Preliminary Results
June 2020 This brief survey conducted by the Legal Atlas team assesses whether primary mandates in certain types of laws would apply to the sale of wildlife in wet markets. The goal of this survey is to shed some light on how these markets are regulated and whether there are controls in place that might prevent the emergence and spread of zoonotic disease. |
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Following the Money: Wildlife Crimes in Anti-Money Laundering Laws. A review of 110 jurisdictions
February 2019 Commissioned by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom, Legal Atlas examined the potential for using Anti-Money Laundering legislation for wildlife trade related crimes in 110 jurisdictions around the world. Anti-money laundering (AML) laws have the potential to play a crucial, game-changing role in transforming wildlife trafficking from a low-risk/high-reward to a high-risk environment. |
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Legal Protection of Great Apes and Gibbons
Nov 2017-February 2019 In the autumn of 2017, with the financial support of the Arcus Foundation, Legal Atlas launched the Legis-Apes Project to provide a closer look at the state of legal protection afforded to great apes and gibbons, as well as specific guidance on additional measures range countries may take to ensure full legal protection for them. The one-year research effort covers 17 range countries and resulted in the compilation and analysis of 40 international treaties applicable directly or indirectly to great apes and gibbons and more than 330 national laws and regulations. The results of this review are contained in this report. |
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Catch Me If You Can: Legal challenges to illicit wildlife trafficking over the internet
May-June 2018 This policy brief, prepared by Legal Atlas, LLC on behalf of GITOC, is the last in a three-part series entitled Digital Dangers published by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GITOC). The brief draws on three main sources for its analysis: (1) Legal Atlas' database of wildlife-trade-related legislation, (2) current developments, trends and challenges discussed by members of the CITES Working Group on Wildlife Cybercrime, and (3) an analysis of a broad range of articles for jurisdictional challenges of cybercrime generally, as well as the specifics associated with online IWT. |
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Larger Than Tigers: Inputs for a strategic approach to biodiversity conservation in Asia
June-December 2016 Working on behalf of the Wildlife Conservation Society to draft the EU Biodiversity Conservation Strategy for Central Asia as a part of the main Asia report “Larger Than Tigers: Inputs for a strategic approach to biodiversity conservation in Asia.” Legal Atlas' Legal Director, James Wingard, co-authored the regional focus section on a portion of Central Asia that includes all or parts of the following eight countries: Afghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. |
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Silent Steppe II - Field Survey and Report on Wildlife Trade
2016-2017 Working on behalf of the Zoological Society of London, this project is a sequel to the most comprehensive IWT study conducted in Mongolia to date, Silent Steppe. This study further investigated trends in IWT in Mongolia. In addition, Legal Atlas reviewed Mongolia’s existing wildlife-related laws and drafted a list of needed amendments. An assessment will be conducted by ZSL training team to provide training that includes things such as IWT product recognition and the use of sniffer dogs. ZSL will develop a more user friendly customs database to provide a clear picture of international border trade and to help identify key hotspots, improving law enforcement. |
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Governance of areas beyond national jurisdiction for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use: Institutional arrangements and cross-sectoral cooperation in the Western Indian Ocean and South East Pacific.
2016-2017 This report on behalf of the UNEP-WCMC is to help draft an analysis of institutional arrangements in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ) (covering approx. 42% of the planet) as part of a Global Environment Fund (GEF) program. The project included an analysis of the Southeast Pacific Ocean and the West Indian Ocean as well as the global instruments - treaties, conventions, committees etc. - at work. Legal Atlas took part in the global analysis and the visualization of the data lying at the basis of the regime in place, to help re-evaluate and improve the governance of these areas, regionally and globally. |
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Guidelines on Mitigating the Impact of Linear Infrastructure and Related Disturbance on Mammals in Central Asia
2014 A report drafted on behalf of the Convention on Migratory Species in advance of the 11th Conference of the Parties in 2014. The guidelines contained in the annex of the linked document were written to provide guidance on avoiding and mitigating impacts of linear infrastructure development on large mammal migratory species in Central Asia - and to encourage development of international, regional, and national policies. It contains a summary of related legislation and an analysis of their ability to respond to managing impacts that result from certain types of linear infrastructure. The Conference of the Parties has been invited to consider the Draft Guidelines for adoption. |
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Principles for Developing Sustainable Wildlife Management Laws
2009 Published by International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, this report is a joint initiative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC). Authored by Elisa Morgera (FAO Legal Officer) and Jim Wingard (FAO International Legal Consultant), the report elaborates the basis of Part I of the regional study. It illustrates the relevant international framework and comprises a set of design principles on how to develop effective national legislation on wildlife management for wildlife stakeholders from Western and Central Asia to other countries. |
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Developing Sustainable Wildlife Management Laws in Western and Central Asia
2009 Published by International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, this study had two objectives. The first was to distill a set of region-specific messages on how to draft effective legislation on hunting and wildlife management. The second objective was to analyze hunting and wildlife conservation laws and the linkages with key related legislation, in particular, forestry and land laws, as well as laws governing related service sectors such as ecotourism. This analysis is based on the assessment of available legal texts on, or related to, wildlife management, as well as interviews with national focal points. From the analysis, the study then focuses on a set of country-specific recommendations for legislative reform or on issues of institutional coordination and enforcement. |
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Silent Steppe: The Illegal Wildlife Trade Crisis in Mongolia
2006 Published by the World Bank, Silent Steppe is the product of the Environment and Social Development unit in the East Asia and Pacific region of the World Bank to understand the driving forces of wildlife trade, its scale and operation, and to identify successful solutions to address illegal trade. |
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Trans-Pacific Partnership - Legal and Enforcement Review
This is an unpublished report for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF US). Legal Atlas conducted research into the import related laws and measures in eight countries that can be used to prevent or prosecute the import of illegally sourced wild flora and fauna, marine species, and timber products. Countries included in the study are Australia, Chile, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, and Malaysia. |
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Wildlife Trade Legislation in Four East African Countries
This is an unpublished report for the Conservation Council of Nations, sponsored by the International Conservation Caucus Foundation. Legal Atlas conducted research into wildlife trade related laws for four countries in Africa. The report includes a description of typical wildlife trade chains, a definition of legal frameworks associated with those chains, an initial taxonomy for use in automating a database of laws, and the compilation and cataloguing of laws and legal content for the countries in the study. |
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Policy Brief on Extractive Industries and World Heritage Sites
This is an unpublished report for the Zoological Society of London's Conservation Programmes department. Legal Atlas conducted research into the legal and policy foundations concerning extractives and protected areas, with a particular focus on World Heritage Sites. The final report contains findings and recommendations for presentation at the World Parks Congress in Australia in November 2014. In addition, Legal Atlas provided a scoping document for a ‘toolkit’ based on the Legal Atlas platform to conduct compliance assessments based on the World Heritage Convention and assist with compiling, assessing, and improving World Heritage national legal frameworks. |
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Pro-Poor REDD+ Legal Frameworks
2013 This unpublished Report, for IUCN Environmental Law Centre, is a “knowledge document” on pro-poor REDD+ legal frameworks serving as a reference to practitioners and a source for additional publications. It is a supplement to an IUCN knowledge product developed in 2009: “Legal frameworks for REDD: design and implementation at the national level.” While the report takes a look at five specific country case studies, its ultimate objective is to deepen conceptual and practical understanding of the challenges facing the design of pro-poor oriented REDD+ legal frameworks for broader audiences. To this extent, the selected countries are a means to an end – the application of the conceptual thinking to specific contexts to help understand how existing institutional and legal frameworks incorporate pro-poor dimensions. |
Sponsored by: World Bank
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Review and Draft Fertilizer LegislationThe World Bank sponsored the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock in Afghanistan in its efforts to develop a comprehensive legislative and regulatory framework for fertilizers. Legal Atlas was asked to assess and assist with the creation of a full legislative framework for the management of fertilizers, with particular attention to quality control processes.
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