On 7 & 8 March 2018, CSaP organised a workshop for the FCO in collaboration with TRAFFIC, to discuss how behavioural insights research could help reduce demand for products of illegal wildlife trade (IWT).

Download the workshop report here

IWT is a major global concern and is estimated to be worth up to £17 billion per year. In recent years, it has attracted the increasing attention of the UK Government. The 2014 London conference on IWT identified four pillars for tackling the trade in illegal wildlife:

• eradicating the market for illegal wildlife products
• ensuring effective legal frameworks and deterrents
• strengthening law enforcement
• supporting sustainable livelihoods and economic development

The workshop on demand reduction aimed to inform preparations for the 2018 London conference by providing a forum for the FCO and Defra to engage in conversations around key issues and discussions of evidence sources. Demand reduction has an increasing profile and is widely considered a promising approach but currently receives little of the resources, especially compared to law enforcement.

The workshop brought together 22 experts and practitioners over 2 days to discuss and debate the challenge of IWT demand reduction. We have drawn on our notes and materials produced by the delegates, and the presentation slides of speakers to summarise the discussions.

Our summary draws out key aspects that separate IWT demand reduction from other areas before summarising the key challenges and promising ideas and approaches identified. This work was funded by the FCO and supported by Defra but the report is an independent assessment of the issues and does not necessarily reflect UK policy.