The 5th anniversary event of the Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online (the Coalition) was held in Beijing this Monday.
The event was sponsored by the China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA), the International Fund for Welfare for Animals (IFAW), the International Wildlife Trade Research Organization (TRAFFIC) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). 50 guests from government departments, scientific research institutions, internet companies and NGOs attended the event.
With the rapid development of the internet economy and social media, some information and videos related to illegal hunting, collection, trading, and breeding of protected wild animals and plants are disseminated through e-commerce activities.
China’s Wildlife Protection Law, promulgated in 2017, expressly prohibits the illegal trading of protected wild animals and their products through online platforms. The newly revised Wild Animal Protection Law, which will be implemented on May 1, further clarified the relevant illegal activities:
- It is prohibited to publish advertisements for the sale, purchase, and use of wild animals or prohibited hunting tools.
- It is prohibited to publish advertisements for the illegal sale, purchase, and use of wild animal products to publish advertisements.
- Online platforms are prohibited from providing display, transaction, and consumption services for the illegal sale, purchase, consumption, and use of wild animals and their products or prohibited hunting tools.
According to statistics, in the past five years, 47 members of the Coalition have discovered and reported more than 23,000 leads on illegal wildlife trades, cleaned up 16.07 million advertisements suspected of illegal wildlife trade; more than 1.1 billion likes and comments have been received during relative campaigns carried out on social media platforms.
Thirteen members of the Coalition, including Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent, were given the Best Practice award for their efforts during the past five years.
Ye Zuli, public affairs director of Alibaba Group, spoke at the event, pledging to further support the fight against illegal wildlife trade and integrate biodiversity protection into ESG strategies.
Wan Ziming, deputy director of the Wildlife Conservation Department of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, spoke on behalf of the government, expecting more internet companies to join the Coalition.
