Page 14 - An Illusion of Complicity: Terrorism and the Illegal Ivory Trade in East Africa

Introduction

IN 2014, US Congressman Ted Poe stated that ‘The world cannot allow radical Islamists to continue
the wholesale slaughter of rhinos and elephants to fund a reign of terror’, adding that ‘The
collusion of these two evils – the killing of endangered species and innocent civilians to further
terrorism – is an international issue’.1 Evidence for Poe’s outspoken comments remains limited –
in some cases non-existent. An illusion of complicity between terrorists and traffickers has been
created in the public’s mind. It is misleading – and worst of all, it risks diverting limited resources
away from where they could have most impact on the illegal ivory trade.

The last ten years have seen a surge in the poaching of African elephants and the emergence
of industrial-scale trafficking. This has occurred alongside booming demand from East Asia’s
middle classes: globally, the illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is now valued at $7–23 billion per year
– and wider environmental crime at $70–213 billion. This represents the fourth-highest global
form of illicit activity after drug trafficking, people trafficking and counterfeiting.2 In terms of
ivory specifically, estimates suggest that over 200,000 elephants have been slaughtered to feed
the trade since 2009, a large proportion in East Africa.3

Numerous governments and international bodies have recognised this as a major concern on
environmental but also economic, political and security grounds. The UK, in particular, has
taken a global policy lead in the past eighteen months as the IWT has become a major foreign-
policy concern. This was highlighted by the forty-four-point declaration signed by forty-six
countries and eleven international organisations at the London Conference in February 2014.4
This landmark declaration was followed by major conferences in Dar-es-Salaam (May 2014) and
Kasane (March 2015) to co-ordinate plans to tackle the deadly trade.

Two factors have driven this high-level political engagement. The first relates to mounting
evidence of links between the IWT and transnational organised crime and corruption; the second
to growing alarm over the involvement of armed non-state actors.5 In the case of the latter,
greatest concern has centred on the alleged participation of terrorist groups, rooted in wider

1. Ted Poe, ‘How Poaching Fuels Terrorism Funding’, CNN, 22 October 2014.
2. Christian Nellemann et al., ‘The Environmental Crime Crisis: Threats to Sustainable Development

From Illegal Exploitation and Trade in Wildlife and Forest Resources’, UNEP & INTERPOL Rapid
Response Assessment, United Nations Environment Programme and GRID-Arendal, 2014, p. 13.
3. Varun Vira, Thomas Ewing and Jackson Miller, ‘Out of Africa: Mapping the Global Trade in Illicit
Elephant Ivory’, Born Free USA/C4ADS, August 2014, p. 3.
4. ‘London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade, 12–13 February 2014: Declaration’, <https://
www.gov.uk/government/publications/declaration-london-conference-on-the-illegal-wildlife-
trade>, accessed 12 August 2015.
5. See, for example, Jasper Humphreys and M L R Smith, ‘War and Wildlife: The Clausewitz
Connection’, International Affairs (Vol. 87, No. 1, 2011); International Federation for Animal
Welfare (IFAW), ‘Criminal Nature: The Global Security Implications of the Illegal Wildlife Trade’,