TNRC Event Virtual Panel: Zoonotic Transmission, Corruption and Illegal Wildlife

Virtual Panel: Illegal wildlife markets, zoonotic disease transfer and corruption—Connections and what the global community must do about it

TUESDAY
JUNE 23, 2020

Time
9:00am - 10:30am Washington, DC
2:00pm - 3:30pm Cambridge, UK
4:00pm - 5:30pm Nairobi, Kenya
8:00pm - 9:30pm Bangkok, Thailand

Watch the Recording

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About the event

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is greater international willingness to address illegal wildlife markets, especially those involving live animals. This virtual event will examine the role that corruption has played in allowing these markets to flourish, what the future may hold if trade is driven underground, and new approaches that practitioners must consider to protect natural resources, public health and assure good governance.

About the featured speakers

Photo of Alonso Aguirre

Dr. A. Alonso Aguirre, Chair and Professor, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University
Alonso Aguirre heads a program of collaborative research at GMU that focuses on the ecology of wildlife disease and the links to human health and conservation of biodiversity. He has worked for the past three decades in over 23 countries focusing on integrative research, transdisciplinarity, professional leadership training and capacity building. Dr. Aguirre co-founded the emerging discipline of conservation medicine, and was recently appointed to the Board on Life Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences.
Recommended resource: Illicit Wildlife Trade, Wet Markets and COVID-19: Preventing Future Pandemics

Photo of Steve Broad

Steve Broad, Executive Director, TRAFFIC
Steve Broad has three decades of diverse experience in wildlife trade research, investigations, CITES implementation and regulation support, policy influence and facilitation. He is a member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, a Fellow of WWF UK and member of the Executive Board of the FairWild Foundation. He was a member of the Global Agenda Council on Organised Crime and Illicit Trade of the World Economic Forum, and participates in the OECD Task Force on Charting Illicit Trade.
Recommended resource: Wildlife trade, COVID-19, and Zoonotic Disease Risks

Photo of Nik Sekhran

Nik Sekhran, Chief Conservation Officer, World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
Nik Sekhran has worked to protect the environment and transform the development pathways of countries for three decades to ensure that they are both greener and more equitable. He has worked on the ground in over 45 countries in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Latin America. Before joining WWF as Chief Conservation Officer, Nik worked for many years at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) where he served as the Director for Sustainable Development.
Recommended resource: Beyond boundaries: Insights into emerging zoonotic diseases, nature, and human well-being

Photo of John Sellar

John M. Sellar OBE, Anti-Smuggling, Fraud and Organized Crime Consultant
John M. Sellar OBE has been directly engaged in law enforcement for almost four decades, initially in the Scottish Police Service and then the United Nations. Mr. Sellar handled anti-smuggling, fraud and organized crime issues for the Secretariat of CITES, where he ultimately became Chief of Enforcement. During 14 years with CITES, he conducted 234 missions to 66 countries and was instrumental in establishing the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime. He formally retired in 2011 but remains active and is currently a Senior Advisor to the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime.
Recommended resource: Wildlife trafficking: Time for a radical rethink

Photo of Louise Shelley

Dr. Louise Shelley, Director, Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center, and Professor, Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University (Moderator)
Dr. Shelley is a leading expert on the relationship among terrorism, organized crime and corruption as well as human trafficking, transnational crime and terrorism with a particular focus on the former Soviet Union. She also specializes in illicit financial flows and money laundering. She was an inaugural Andrew Carnegie Fellow. Her newest book was written while on the Carnegie Corporation and Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Fellowship, Dark Commerce: How a New Illicit Economy is Threatening our Future, on illicit trade, the new technology and sustainability.
Recommended resource: Illicit Wildlife Trade, Wet Markets and COVID-19: Preventing Future Pandemics

Image attribution: © naturepl.com / Jen Guyton / WWF; © Brian J. Skerry / National Geographic Stock / WWF; © Georgina Goodwin / Shoot The Earth / WWF-UK; © Hkun Lat / WWF-Aus