In this period, the GMS detected 477 advertisements for 69% (18) of the target species, with 55% (264) of the advertisements registered by the data hub in Brazil and 45% (213) by the data hub in South Africa. [...] The data was used, first, to identify indicators of illegal activity in e-commerce and social media ‘grey’ markets related to pirarucu and the forms in which it is sold online, and secondly, to identify and analyze trends in illegal pirarucu trade routes and test the empirical evidence for its connection to drug trafficking. [...] With increased attention in recent years on the trafficking of pangolin scales and leather, pirarucu scales are increasingly being used in the production of boots for the US market.6 12 Due to overfishing since the 1960s, the pirarucu was included in the CITES Appendix II in 1975 and classified as ‘vulnerable’ by the IUCN Red List in 1986,7 which triggered an alarm for environmentalists and local. [...] However, as they coincide with major conservation programmes launched by the federal gov- ernment under President Lula da Silva – the first phase of the 2004–2008 Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon and the launch of the Sustainable Amazon Plan in 2008 – the peaks may be due to increased public awareness and law enforce- ment pressure. [...] This market sits at a complex intersection of constitutionally protected rights to practice culture, the role played by traditional healers and others, the need to protect and conserve indigenous wildlife and the challenges of enforcing the law, both offline and online, where the relevant agencies are understaffed and underfunded.
- Pages
- 33
- Published in
- Switzerland
