Left to right Huw Irranca-Davies, UK Minister for Marine and Natural Environment; Will Pryor, Assistant Private Secretary; Lynn Beaufort, Defra CITES Policy Advisor; and Christine Dawson, US Department of State Click photo to enlarge © Defra London, UK—On the 20th July 2009 the United Kingdom formally accepted the chair of the Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking (CAWT) from the United States. CAWT is a global coalition of six Governments and thirteen international business and conservation organisations, working together to support each other’s efforts to end the illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife products.

CAWT is a partnership of like-minded governments and organisations who are willing to make a political commitment to end wildlife trafficking. When taking on the role of chair the UK pledged to continue the good work already done by the US by building on the initiatives already underway and encouraging new members from key countries and industries to join the coalition.

The handover took place at New Scotland Yard, and participants were welcomed there by the Metropolitan Police Wildlife Crime Unit’s Police Commander Pountain. Trevor Salmon from Defra’s CITES and International Species Protection team hosted the meeting, assisted by Lynn Beaufort and Kate Fouracre. 

The handover agreement was signed by Huw Irranca-Davies, the UK Minister for Marine and Natural Environment, and Christine Dawson, the senior conservation officer in the US Department of State’s Office of Ecology and Terrestrial Conservation. 

At the meeting were representatives from five government partners, Australia, Chile, Canada, the US and the UK, along with representatives from INTERPOL and the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The non-governmental partners were represented by TRAFFIC International,

IFAW, WWF and the Humane Society.  Several partners gave presentations to the group on their contribution to the work of CAWT.

For further details of the work of CAWT please contact Lynn Beaufort on 0117 372 8591 or drop an email to:

lynn.beaufort@defra.gsi.gov.uk