TNRC Event Lessons from the field: Assessing corruption risks that undermine law enforcement action against natural resource crimes

TNRC Learning Series
Anti-corruption insights for conservation and natural resource management

Lessons from the field: Assessing corruption risks that undermine law enforcement action against natural resource crimes

About the event

Corruption Risk Assessments (CRAs) are a tool widely used in the anti-corruption field. The methodology varies depending on the context, but effective assessments are typically a collaborative process where facilitators work with organization staff (“risk owners”) to map risks, assess their severity, and jointly devise an action plan to mitigate them. Although UNODC and others support the use of CRAs to address vulnerabilities in law enforcement actions against wildlife and related crime, this approach is not yet systematically applied in the context of natural resource management (NRM). Why not? What value could practitioners draw from conducting such CRAs and in which contexts? How and where should they start? The Basel Institute has applied this approach in three countries – Malawi, Uganda and Peru – with a particular focus on risks that undermine investigations and prosecutions for natural resource crimes. In this webinar, the authors of the study and government agency participants will share their lessons learned for NRM practitioners.

Learning questions

1. What are the advantages and challenges of implementing CRAs with NRM agencies mandated to investigate and prosecute natural resource crimes?
2. What conditions and resources are conducive to implementing CRAs efficiently?
3. What are the risks in conducting CRAs?
4. What are early examples of practical findings from the study that could lead to effective risk mitigation measures in the target law enforcement agencies?

About the speakers

Manuel Medina Rendon, Intelligence Analyst IWT, Basel Institute on Governance (Presenter):
Manuel Medina Rendon joined the Basel Institute in March 2019 as an intelligence analyst within the Green Corruption team. Prior to joining the Institute, Manuel worked for Colombia's Attorney General's Office (AGO) as an Expert Investigator and Criminal Analyst at the Strategic Center for Evidence Assessment. While at the AGO, Manuel had the chance to contribute to the implementation of new investigative techniques, data processing models and the design of a new model for criminal analysis. This included working on the deployment and execution of the institutional big data strategy regarding the extraction of criminal patterns from massive criminal data through specialised software. Manuel is a regular speaker and trainer on organised crime and related topics for global audiences in law enforcement, intelligence, military and the judiciary. He is a member of the International Association of Crime Analysts (IACA) and the Translations Sub-Committee, as well as the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime Network. He is also a passionate amateur photographer.
 

Joel Segura Alania, Lawyer, Peruvian criminal law (Panelist):
“Joel Segura Alania is a Peruvian lawyer specialized in criminal law, criminal procedure, and asset recovery. His professional background involves corruption risk management, integrity, compliance, anti-bribery, and internal control systems. He is a professor at the Law School of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú and at the Academia de la Magistratura, visiting professor at the Master in Compliance at the UCLM, and the Specialized Course at the Escuela Libre México. Joel has held professional roles including Senior Asset Recovery Specialist (ICAR) of the Basel Institute on Governance - Switzerland, Public Prosecutor Specialized in Corruption of Public Officials Crimes, Deputy Public Prosecutor, Secretary-General of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Republic of Peru. And advisory roles in the Cabinet of Advisors of the President of the Judiciary and Secretary of Confidence of the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Perú. He is certified in ISO 37001, ISO 31000, and ISO 19600. He performs the Anti-Bribery Compliance Function at the Environmental Control and Audit Agency and is Co-Author of the book El Recurso de Casación Penal, published by Instituto Pacífico.
 

Brighton Kalaembeni Kumchedwa, Director, Department of National Parks and Wildlife, Liwonde National Park (Panelist):
Brighton graduated with Bachelor of Education from University of Malawi-Chancellor College in 1991. In 1995 he obtained Bachelor of Education (hon.) in Environmental Education from Rhodes University, South Africa and then proceeded to obtain MA: Environment & Socio –Economic Development from University of Natal, South Africa in 1998. From 1991, Brighton has worked with Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) as Parks and Wildlife Officer and then as Parks and Wildlife Officer (Wildlife Management) at Liwonde National Park. From 1993-1995 he was assigned to work as Parks and Wildlife Officer responsible for Research & Planning at Lengwe National Park and then as Senior Parks and Wildlife Officer responsible for Education and Extension at head office. In 2004 ascended to the position of Division Manager responsible for Liwonde and Lake Malawi National Parks, in 2007 assumed the position of Assistant Director for Education and Extension and as Deputy Director in April 2013 before being appointed as Director of National Parks and Wildlife in September 2013 and the 2017 Tusk Conservation Award winner.
 

Donnamarie O’Connell, Senior Technical Advisor, Lilongwe Wildlife Trust (Panelist):
Donnamarie has worked in Malawi since 2008, working closely with government departments including the DNPW. She was appointed to the UK government’s Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund Advisory Panel 2017-21. She worked closely with the Director of DNPW in Malawi to initiate and establish the Inter-Agency Committee for Combating Wildlife Crime and led the UK Defra-funded ‘Developing Law Enforcement Capability in Malawi to Combat Wildlife Crime’ project 2015-17, which delivered a portfolio of training and legal tools to support national-level improvements in investigation and prosecution of wildlife crime. As Operations Director (part time) at Stop Ivory/Elephant Protection Initiative 2016-18, Donna managed technical and financial support for developing National Elephant Action Plans and ivory stockpile inventories across 16 African states. With Brighton Kumchedwa and others, she recently co-authored the report 'The Enabling Role of Corruption in Wildlife and Forest Crime in Malawi: Review and Recommendations'. She is currently the senior technical advisor to Lilongwe Wildlife Trust and Basel Institute of Governance's Malawi consultant on this project.
 

Juhani Grossman, Team Leader, Green Corruption Programme, Basel Institute on Governance (Moderator):
Juhani Grossmann leads the Basel Institute's Green Corruption programme, which targets environmental degradation through an anti-corruption, asset recovery and governance approach. He joined the Basel Institute in April 2020. Prior to joining the Institute, he spent nine years leading anti-corruption and good governance programmes in Indonesia. This included managing the USD 25 million USAID-funded CEGAH project, which advised 17 government agencies on their respective integrity building efforts. The programme's 50+ tracks included internal controls and compliance, public service complaint-handling systems, court IT system integration, access to public information and financial investigations. In the Philippines, he managed a programme on campaign finance reform that resulted in the first obligatory disclosure of expenditure records by political candidates. He also led an international assessment of the country’s 2010 landmark IT-based elections. Over five years in Ukraine, he organised the biggest election observation mission worldwide at that time, fielding over 1,000 international observers to monitor the 2004 presidential elections and uncovering widespread election fraud. After the ensuing Orange Revolution, he advised the new government in strengthening its anti-corruption reforms through extensive research on corruption patterns in customs, healthcare, education and licensing. This led to the enactment of over 80 local-level reforms. He also facilitated the negotiations that led to the adoption of Ukraine's first access to public information law. Prior to Ukraine, he worked on civil society and political party capacity building in Russia.