3 Impacts and harms Chapter

to supply the trade, the age and gender of individ- uals harvested, when and how they are harvested, Using the same datasets, it is possible to probe the and a range of other factors related to population question of threat attribution in more depth. [...] 90 Impact and harms 3 Ecosystem impacts UNODC review of available evidence demonstrated that the pathway of cause and effect between illegal wildlife The conservation harm caused by illegal wildlife trade trade, species depletion, disruption of ecosystems, and is not only the overexploitation threat to the survival of processes that affect the climate is diverse, complex a species. [...] The decline in abundance of a species’ pop- and not comprehensively documented (Figure 3.4).20 ulation also contributes to degradation of the range of functions and processes the impacted species provide A prominent negative impact of wildlife crime on carbon in their ecosystems.13 These harms to ecosystem stability storage and emissions is its role in driving excessive and resilience undermine th. [...] The level of impact depends on the character- tionality is complicated and recovery from disruption is istics of the tree species affected and the subsequent hard to predict.15 Wildlife crime affects a wide range of management of the impacted forest area, although cor- species with different ecological roles, so its ecosystem ruption, illegal timber harvests and illegal trade typically impact cann. [...] This leads to a This chapter aimed to take stock of the diverse harms focus on illegal wildlife trade expected to afford the associated with wildlife crime and to examine available greatest profits to criminal organizations, those linked evidence on their extent to inform considerations of to conflict and security concerns, impacts on govern- their significance and the prioritization of responses.