Month: September 2018

• UK aid to protect endangered Sumatran tiger, with only around 30 left in one critical habitat

• Partnership work in Indonesia will help create 16,000 sustainable jobs

• UK aid has a unique role to play in tackling the underlying causes of the illegal wildlife trade, while protecting the livelihoods of local communities.

UK aid will protect critically endangered wildlife in Indonesia and Liberia by creating sustainable jobs for people who work near these animal’s habitats, International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt announced today ahead of next month’s Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference.

On a visit to the ZSL, London Zoo – which is leading the global Sumatran Tiger breeding programme – Ms Mordaunt committed to tackle the underlying causes of the Illegal Wildlife Trade and to protect species including the critically endangered Sumatran Tiger, Asian Elephant, Orangutan and West African Chimpanzee.

UK aid, through the Partnerships For Forests programme, is helping to create sustainable jobs and livelihoods for local communities in Africa and Southeast Asia. This provides communities with an alternative to clearing forest or hunting wildlife to make a living, and ensures that vital forest habitat for wildlife is protected. This is essential for the long-term survival of key wildlife species like the chimpanzee and the tiger.

International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt said:

“The Illegal Wildlife Trade and the destruction of forests and natural habitats are having a catastrophic impact on both iconic wildlife and the world’s poorest people.

“Nobody wants to see extraordinary species become extinct, or the communities living near their habitats struggle for jobs and livelihoods, which is why UK aid has a unique role to play in tackling the underlying causes driving these problems, namely poverty and rapid, unmanaged deforestation.

“It’s only by working together with local communities that we will preserve endangered wildlife like the Sumatran Tiger, and protect them for future generations.”

Chief Executive at WWF Tanya Steele said:

“We don’t have to choose between helping people and saving our wildlife.

“Projects like this show UK aid can be used to help the world’s poorest people and save some of our most threatened species, like the Sumatran tiger and Sumatran elephant.

“Next month, world leaders are meeting in London to find ways to stop the illegal wildlife trade. That will only succeed if local communities are part of the solution not the problem.”

Dominic Jermey, Director General of ZSL, London Zoo said:

“As an international conservation charity, ZSL welcomes DFID’s increased focus on protecting critically endangered wildlife, tackling the illegal wildlife trade and supporting marginalised communities.

“ZSL’s own work in Indonesia with flagship species such as the tiger and its habitat enable us to address critical threats such as forest loss, mitigating forest fires and IWT.

“ZSL works closely with local communities; we help to empower them in managing their natural resources; and we ensure they have a voice in decision making to support their economic resilience.”

The Department for International Development (DFID), is part of a ground-breaking public-private partnership to protect chimpanzee habitats in Liberia and tiger habitats in Indonesia, through investments to develop sustainable rubber and cocoa. The project will help to create an estimated 16,000 fair wage jobs and in turn improve the livelihoods of 50,000 people. These jobs bring benefits to entire households and their dependants arising through the investment in the area.

The range of support demonstrates, ahead of the Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference in October, DFID’s unique place in addressing the underlying causes of Illegal Wildlife Trade and the UK’s role as a world leader in supporting global biodiversity.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Indonesia’s Bukit Tigapuluh Landscape is home to some of the world’s most endangered species, the Sumatran Tiger (only 30-40 remain in the landscape), the Orangutan and the Asian Elephant. DFID’s support will:

• Help 28 public and private organisations work together to protect the landscape, including local government, national conservation authorities, private companies, NGOs and indigenous community leaders to secure critical remaining wildlife areas, preventing the loss of remaining habitat and curbing the risk of poaching.

• Help to develop ‘green’ (environmentally sustainable) rubber, other products like wild forest honey, and establish a wildlife corridor within the conservation landscape.

In Liberia’s Gola Forest:

• To counter the mounting threat of deforestation and boost forest and biodiversity conservation, DFID’s Partnerships for Forests is supporting the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and local conservation partners in Liberia to develop a market for forest-friendly Gola cocoa.

• RSPB and partners are already supporting smallholders around protected forest in Sierra Leone to market forest-friendly cocoa, the first shipment of which was sold to international markets in 2017. This will protect wildlife habitats for threatened bird species and critically endangered West African chimpanzee and the endangered pygmy hippopotamus.

In addition to these projects, DFID’s total support to this programme is helping to prevent the destruction of over one million hectares of forests and wildlife habitats in Africa and Southeast Asia by 2020.

• Low-level poachers are usually young, poor villagers who poach to earn money. A poacher might receive £35 for a live chimpanzee which would sell for £14,000. When wildlife is slaughtered for quick cash and trees are illegally logged, ecosystems break down – and the poorest people are hit hardest.

• DFID’s wider work, which in many cases will have knock on benefits in addressing the underlying conditions driving the illegal wildlife trade or destruction of wildlife habitats, could constitute as much as £583mn of support from 2011 to 2022. This is an approximate combination of DFID’s support for job creation, tackling deforestation, tackling illicit financial flows and other areas in IWT priority countries.
This announcement relates to three projects DFID is funding through Partnerships for Forests. Two projects in Indonesia and one in the Gola Forest. In total these projects represent a £2.1mn allocation. DFID’s total support to the Partnerships for Forest programme is £56.5mn.

1. A public-private partnership to develop a green rubber plantation and establish a wildlife corridor. The plantation is being developed by PT Royal Lestari Utama, a joint venture backed by tire manufacturer Michelin, working closely with WWF Indonesia. This will contribute to the protection of the 400,000 hectare landscape. The initiative has secured green commercial finance of US$95 million.
2. A coalition of 28 public and private organisations work together to protect the landscape, including local government, national conservation authorities, private companies, NGOs and indigenous community leaders. This will help to meet the most immediate conservation needs in the landscape, including community engagement and the development of long-term economic security for habitat and wildlife protection activities – supporting communities to be the first line of defence for the environment they live in.
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3. Creating incentives for the protection of the Gola rainforest through the production of ‘rainforest-friendly’ cocoa as an alternative to other, unsustainable agriculture and logging practices, working with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and local businesses.

The UK (DFID, FCO, Defra) is hosting an international conference on IWT to inspire global commitment to eliminate the illegal wildlife trade. The conference will bring together global leaders, governments, the private sector, NGOs, academics and others. Bringing the global community back to London this year re-affirms our combined commitment to tackling the trade at the highest levels.

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Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has today (20 September) completed a two day visit to Burma which included talks with State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and a tour of northern Rakhine, the area where thousands of Rohingya have fled.

Speaking to media, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said:

Burma is a country that has made some important steps towards democracy in the last few years, holding their first democratic elections three years ago. Although they are not fully democratic they have been moving in the right direction.

On the Rohingya crisis, the Foreign Secretary said:

I went to Rakhine State myself to see what had happened. What is essential now is that the perpetrators of any atrocities are brought to justice, because without that there can be no solution to the huge refugee problem. We will use all the tools at our disposal to try and make sure there is accountability.

I’ll be going to New York next week for the United Nations General Assembly to discuss what we should do. Britain can’t act alone. We need to act in concert with other countries – we are a believer in the international rules based order. It’s incredible important for all of us that those perpetrators face justice.

On the first day of his visit, Foreign Secretary Hunt met human rights defenders from the Association for the Assistance of Political Prisoners and toured the Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon.

Further information

• Follow the Foreign Secretary on Twitter @Jeremy_Hunt and Facebook
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A man who grew and sold cannabis from his bedroom has been jailed today after the Attorney General, Geoffrey Cox QC MP, referred his sentence to the Court of Appeal as unduly lenient.

During a police search of James Brooks’ Southend home, a false wall was discovered in the 24 year old’s bedroom. Inside this concealed room, police found 6 cannabis plants. Elsewhere in the room, they found large amounts of cannabis, cocaine, and paraphernalia relating to the sale of drugs. They also found weapons including a machete and pair of nun-chucks.

Brooks was originally sentenced at Basildon Crown Court in July, where he was given 18 months imprisonment suspended for 24 months. He was also made the subject of a 12 month drug rehabilitation requirement, and ordered to complete a rehabilitation activity and unpaid work. Today, after the Attorney General’s referral, the Court of Appeal increased his sentence to 32 months immediate imprisonment.

Speaking after the hearing, the Attorney General said:

“Drug production and dealing has severe impacts on a community and on individuals. Brooks was making a living from harming the lives of others, and it is important that this is reflected in his sentence.”

The first person to be convicted under the Modern Slavery Act for human trafficking outside the UK has today had her sentence increased after the Solicitor General, Robert Buckland QC MP, personally argued that her sentence was too low in the Court of Appeal.

From her south London home, Josephine Iyamu, now 51, organised the travel of 5 women from Nigeria to Germany for exploitation through prostitution for her own financial gain.

The victims were all vulnerable young women who knew Iyamu could get them into Europe. In return for arranging their travel, Iyamu demanded they repay her up to £35,000 once they began working in Germany, and were told that breaking this promise would result in activation of a voodoo curse.

The victims travelled from Nigeria across the Sahara to Libya, where they boarded overcrowded inflatable boats to Italy, and finally entered Germany using false identification documents. The traumatic journey involved spending days or weeks in “transit houses”, the rape of one of the victims, and being rescued from the Mediterranean after their boat broke down.

After Iyamu’s arrest in 2017, she plotted to stop the case against her through intimidation of the victims’ families. This included arranging the unlawful arrest of one of the victim’s sisters remaining in Nigeria.

Iyamu was originally sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court in July, where she was given 14 years imprisonment. Today, the Court of Appeal increased her sentence to 18 years imprisonment.

Speaking after the hearing, the Solicitor General said:

“Modern slavery exists in all societies, and respects neither borders nor jurisdictions. It has no place in a civilised society and the UK government is committed to tackling this abhorrent crime wherever it originates, working with our partners across the globe.

The Court of Appeal’s decision today helps to show that crimes relating to human trafficking, such as Iyamu’s, will not be tolerated – regardless of where they are carried out.”