we would like to Thank Everyone Who Supported Our ‘Give Wildlife Crime The Severity That It Deserves’ Campaign!
As the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC COP13) wrapped up on Friday, October 23, 2026, breakthrough news came out of UN Headquarters in Vienna: State Parties officially voted to launch negotiations for a historic, first-ever legally binding UN Protocol against Environmental Crime!
The final vote on Resolution L.4 was a decisive victory for global wildlife protection:
🟢 83 IN FAVOUR (Including Canada! 🇨🇦)
🔴 12 Against
⚪ 27 Abstentions
This marks a monumental shift in international law. For years, transnational wildlife trafficking—a $199 billion global black market run by organized criminal syndicates—has been treated as a minor offense. World leaders have now formally recognized that environmental crime is serious, organized transnational crime, requiring coordinated global law enforcement.
Canada Shifted Its Stance – And Your Voices Helped Drive It
What began as a Canadian campaign quickly expanded into a worldwide public action initiative. Partnering with World Elephant Day (Give Wildlife Crime The Severity That It Deserves), Elephanatics scaled our outreach globally so people anywhere in the world could email our government leaders directly and demand action.
The result? Canada didn’t just vote IN FAVOUR in Vienna—the Canadian delegation delivered a strong official statement pledging support for robust international legal frameworks targeting environmental syndicates.
To every single advocate who sent a letter, shared a post, or brought this issue into their classroom: thank you. Your voice made a direct impact on Canadian foreign policy.
What Happens Next? The 2-Year Negotiation Window (2026–2028)
Winning the vote at UNTOC COP13 in Vienna opened the door for global leaders and legal experts to do what they do best.
Over the next two years, the newly established UN Ad Hoc Committee—led by key champion nations like Brazil and supported by legal experts—will draft the official treaty text ahead of COP14 in 2028.
During this technical drafting phase, international experts and coalitions will focus on:
Closing Legal Loopholes: Establishing universal legal definitions, cross-border enforcement protocols, and extradition guidelines to target environmental syndicates.
Amplifying Civil Society: Working with global coalitions like the Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime (GIEWC) to submit expert recommendations to drafting committees.
Maintaining Momentum: Encouraging participating nations to stay committed to a strict, enforceable final agreement.
How Elephanatics Will Keep You Updated
Our major public campaign drive reached its milestone victory with the Vienna vote. As diplomats and legal experts take over the technical drafting phase, Elephanatics will pivot to a monitoring, reporting, and amplifying role.
We will track the negotiation rounds, share updates from leading coalitions like GIEWC, and keep our community informed as this historic treaty takes shape between now and 2028.
How You Can Stay Involved:
📧 Subscribe to Our Newsletter: Get periodic, behind-the-scenes updates as treaty negotiations progress between now and 2028.
🍎 Teachers & Educators: Our UNTOC Civic Action Toolkitis still available! It serves as a real-world case study showing students how citizen engagement directly influences global policy.
📲 Follow Us: Stay connected with us on social media for real-time policy alerts.
Together, we have shown that public advocacy works. Thank you for standing with us to secure a safer future for elephants, wildlife and our planet.
On October 9th, our joint campaign with World Elephant Day, ‘Give Wildlife Crime The Severity That It Deserves,’ officially closed its letter-writing drive.
We would like to thank every educator, advocate, student, and supporter who took thirty seconds to email their Member of Parliament, share our posts, or sign our petition.
Because of your action, Canadian ministers and MPs have received an unmistakable message: Canadians are asking their parliamentary members to support a legally binding Wildlife Crime Protocol to strengthen international laws and close the legal loopholes that allow organized crime to exploit global wildlife.
Why This Campaign Mattered: Bridging Global Policy with Local Communities
As highlighted in recent investigative reporting by Mongabay, Canada’s current import framework leaves critical gaps. Under existing laws, importers are not consistently required to prove the legal origin of wildlife at our borders.
Former Canadian Director General of Wildlife Enforcement Sheldon Jordan put it bluntly: under current legal frameworks, import bans are “hardly worth more than the paper they’re written on.” In short, if a species isn’t explicitly listed under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), Canadian border officers cannot legally stop a shipment—even if it was poached or taken illegally from another country. Without mandatory proof of legal origin at our borders, Canada unwittingly acts as a safe harbor for illicit wildlife trade.
This isn’t just an abstract overseas issue—it directly impacts Canadian communities. As featured in our recent publication in the Surrey Now-Leader:
“Across Surrey, residents and local business owners are feeling the weight of rising property crime, gang activity, and illicit trade. Wildlife trade is at the heart of transnational organized crime… A protocol to protect international wildlife is key to cracking down on transnational crime in our own backyards.”
Our campaign demanded a structural, international solution to address both local safety and global conservation:
A Dedicated UNTOC Protocol: Adding a fourth protocol under the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime to target wildlife trafficking syndicates.
Law Enforcement Severity: Giving enforcement agencies the global intelligence tools needed to freeze criminal assets and dismantle wildlife trafficking networks.
What Happens Next?
While the letter-writing window for this campaign phase has closed, our policy work is just beginning.
Elephanatics is compiling and submitting the letters gathered through this joint initiative with World Elephant Day directly to Canadian decision-makers ahead of the UNTOC Conference of the Parties (CoP13) meetings this month. We are ensuring ministers and MPs hear clearly that their constituents want Canada to lead—not follow—on global environmental justice and international wildlife protection.
Stay Connected
Our educational toolkits and advocacy resources remain live on our site:
🍎 Educators & Parents: You can still access our freeUNTOC Education Toolkitto bring conservation policy into the classroom.
🐘 Stay Informed:Subscribe to receive updates as UNTOC negotiations progress!
The drive to protect global wildlife doesn’t stop here. Thank you for standing with us to make wildlife crime a global priority.
The Gardeners of the Global Pharmacy: Elephants, TCM, and World Wildlife Day 2026
Happy World Wildlife Day! 🌍🐘
Today, March 3rd, we join the global community in celebrating #WWD2026. This year’s theme, “Medicinal and Aromatic Plants,” highlights a delicate balance between human health and the survival of the species that maintain our natural “pharmacies.” At Elephanatics, we’ve always called elephants the “Master Gardeners” of the wild. But as we celebrate their role in planting the world’s healing herbs, we must also address the darker reality of how “medicine” is still being used as a justification for their destruction.
The Black Market Reality
While many are aware of the ivory crisis, a persistent and devastating threat remains: the use of elephant skin and other parts in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Despite stricter laws passed in recent years and a growing global outcry, a shadow “black market” continues to thrive.
Wildlife products—including those from endangered elephants—are still being trafficked to treat various ailments, often bypassing legal protections entirely. While Elephanatics has focused heavily on education and habitat protection in recent years, we remain vigilant advocates against any trade that values an animal’s body parts over its life. The fight to move global medicine toward a truly wildlife-free future is far from over.
The Solution: Supporting the “Wild Greenhouse”
There is a bitter irony in this trade: elephants are the primary reason many medicinal plants exist at all. They are “Zoo-pharmacognosists”—natural doctors who seek out specific barks and roots to heal themselves.
By dispersing seeds through their dung and clearing forest paths, elephants cultivate the very herbs that should be the focus of traditional healing.
This is the dialogue we must advance: We need to support the transition within the TCM community away from animal parts and toward the sustainable, plant-based alternatives that elephants help grow. By protecting the ‘Master Gardeners,’ we aren’t just saving a species; we are protecting the natural laboratory that produces the sustainable medicines of the future. We are also protecting ourselves from the emergence of new health crises linked to the wildlife trade.
How You Can Be a “Habitat Hero” Today
We may not be able to stop the black market overnight, but we can influence the demand through education and awareness. This World Wildlife Day, help us advocate for a world where health doesn’t come at the cost of a herd:
Educate the Next Generation: If you are a teacher, use our rewilding lesson planto show students how protecting biodiversity globally protects the plants we all rely on.
Stay Informed: Awareness is our greatest tool against the illegal trade. Share this post to help others understand the link between conservation and sustainable medicine.
Support the “Gardeners”: Your support helps fund our ongoing mission to ensure the long-term survival and protection of African elephants in the wild. Donate
By protecting the “Master Gardeners” of the wild, we ensure the survival of the entire ecosystem they sustain. Let’s continue to work together to protect the future of the herd!
📣 Congratulations 📣 to the four new recipients chosen for the Fran Duthie African Elephant Conservation Scholarship, 2025! 🎓
Mara Elephant Project is thrilled to welcome four incredible young conservation champions into the 2025 Fran Duthie (Elephanatics) African Elephant Conservation Scholarship herd.
Faith Leuka – A passionate forestry student and community leader from Narok, committed to sustainable land use and empowering women in conservation. Faith is currently undertaking her Diploma in Forestry at the Kenya Forestry College in Kericho.
Amos Baari – A climate advocate and pastoralist champion pursuing his Master’s in Climate Change and Environment, working to bridge pastoralist livelihoods and biodiversity protection. Baari is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Climate Change and Environment at the University of Nairobi.
Robert Muli – A wildlife conservation student whose resilience and leadership have fueled his dream to strengthen community-based conservation and wildlife management. Muli is currently enrolled at the University of Eldoret, pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Conservation and Management.
Sarah Loiman – A dedicated student from Narok with aspirations in Environmental Science, determined to give back through education, outreach, and wildlife protection. Sarah is pursuing a Bachelor of Environmental Science at Kenyatta University.
These four candidates were chosen not only for their passion and drive, but also because they represent the communities Mara Elephant Project partners with to protect wildlife and their habitats. Amos and Faith are from the Loita area and are passionate about its preservation. Additionally, Sarah and Robert are from key operational areas in the Mara where the community is critical to supporting MEP’s coexistence efforts. Together, they represent the future of conservation, leaders driven by resilience, passion, and a vision for thriving communities and wild spaces.
If you wish to support the next generation of wildlife conservationists in Kenya visit the Mara Elephant Project donate page and leave a note that it is for the scholarship.
It is with great pride and excitement to announce that Dr. Jake Wall, co-founder of Elephanatics and #EarthRanger, has been awarded the Esmond B. Martin Royal Geographic Society Prize for 2025 – an honour recognizing outstanding individual achievement in the pursuit and application of geographical research, with a particular emphasis on wildlife conservation and environmental research studies.
“Dr Wall has been at the forefront of leveraging technology to create freely available geospatial tools for the benefit of wildlife conservation in Africa and beyond for the last 20 years. Jake’s dedication and passion for wildlife is matched only by his tireless efforts to provide conservationists with the tools and methods they need to better protect the natural world.His approach has been methodical and detailed focusing on the benefits, not only to the natural landscape, but the communities that live along side these majestic animals.
As Director of Research and Conservation for the Mara Elephant Project (MEP), Jake established a long-term elephant monitoring programme and developed an application to easily map landscapes, especially fences, which have become a major threat to wildlife movements in the Mara ecosystem. Prior to working with MEP, Jake worked as the Geospatial Scientific Advisor to Save the Elephants for 15 years where he developed a real-time tracking system to visualise GPS data from collared African elephants across the continent. Algorithms scanned the data and, among other things, sent alerts when elephants had moved unusually fast, suggesting panic, or had stopped moving which might indicate a poaching event. In partnership with Save the Elephants and the Allen Institute for AI, this system was expanded into EarthRanger, now used by over 600 sites across 74 countries and growing rapidly.
To complement EarthRanger, Jake is now leading the development of Ecoscope, which provides users with access to ready-made analytics from sources of publicly available remote sensing data. It allows researchers and conservationists to easily engage with the data and generate meaningful outputs, thereby turning conservation data into information to improve decision making, insight and the protection of ecosystems.”
Congratulations Jake! You are very deserving of such a prestigious acknowledgement. Team Elephanatics is extremely proud of all your hard work and devotion to protecting the greatest animal ever created!
The sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is taking place in Cali in Columbia, from 21 October to 1 November 2024. Canada’s Kunming-Montreal Declaration aims to set ambitious goals to halt the loss of biodiversity, promote sustainable development, and enhance global environment efforts by 2030. Elephanatics has written letters and sent emails to the Ministers of Environment and Climate Change and MP’s across Canada asking that they support the merits of a global agreement in the form of an additional protocol to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Crime (UNTOC) to strengthen the international legal framework to tackle illegal wildlife trade. Because the illegal wildlife trade is so interconnected with biodiversity loss, a global agreement is the next logical step to take.
We hope you consider writing your MP to support our ask. Find a pre-written letter here (featured Item)
Find your MP here
See our communication below:
……………………..
The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, P.C., M.P., Minister of Environment and Climate Change, House of Commons, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
via email: Steven.Guilbeault@parl.gc.ca
cc:
Hon. Mélanie Joly, P.C., M.P., Minister of Foreign Affairs melanie.joly@parl.gc.ca
Hon. Arif Virani, P.C., M.P., Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada arif.virani@parl.gc.ca
September 18, 2024
Dear Minister Guilbeault,
Please see attached letter sent to you March 7, 2024, in reference to strengthening the international legal framework to tackle the illegal wildlife trade by considering the merits of a global agreement in the form of an additional protocol to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Crime (UNTOC). Despite the scale and impact of IWT – one of the largest illegal markets in the world – a global agreement covering this topic still does not exist.
The sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is taking place in Cali in Columbia, from 21 October to 1 November 2024. Canada’s Kunming-Montreal Declaration aims to set ambitious goals to halt the loss of biodiversity, promote sustainable development, and enhance global environment efforts by 2030. Because the illegal wildlife trade is a direct threat to biodiversity the inclusion of a new protocol under UNTOC in the form of a global agreement needs to be considered seriously as part of the Kunming-Montreal framework to curb biodiversity loss. A protocol under UNTOC would show a strong commitment in working with partners to help curb the illegal wildlife trade and would also help bring other countries up to Canadian standards for wildlife trade.
TARGET 4: Halt Species Extinction, Protect Genetic Diversity, and Manage Human-Wildlife Conflicts
“Ensure urgent management actions to halt human induced extinction of known threatened species and for the recovery and conservation of species, in particular threatened species, to significantly reduce extinction risk, as well as to maintain and restore the genetic diversity within and between populations of native, wild and domesticated species to maintain their adaptive potential, including through in situ and ex situ conservation and sustainable management practices, and effectively manage human-wildlife interactions to minimize human-wildlife conflict for coexistence.”
(q) “Enhanced collaboration, cooperation and synergies between the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Protocols, other biodiversity-related conventions, other relevant multilateral agreements and international organizations and processes, in line with their respective mandates, including at the global, regional, subregional and national levels, would contribute to and promote the implementation of the Framework in a more efficient and effective manner;”
The illegal wildlife trade imperils biodiversity, contributes to climate change, creates economic instability in communities and is responsible for global pandemics. The way forward is to unify and collaborate with similar organizations and partners to thwart biodiversity loss.
Once again, we ask that you consider a new protocol under the UNTOC in the form of a global agreement to strengthen the international legal framework to tackle the illegal wildlife trade.
The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, P.C., M.P., Minister of Environment and Climate Change, House of Commons, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6 via email: Steven.Guilbeault@parl.gc.ca
cc: Hon. Mélanie Joly, P.C., M.P., Minister of Foreign Affairs melanie.joly@parl.gc.ca Hon. Arif Virani, P.C., M.P., Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada arif.virani@parl.gc.ca
March 7, 2024
Dear Minister Guibeault,
A coalition of organizations co-signed a letter written by the Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime, addressing the need to strengthen the international legal framework to tackle the illegal wildlife trade (IWT), and was sent to you on 7 September 2023, asking for ways to better understand Canada’s views on how best to tackle wildlife trafficking at the international level. I am following up and have added more points to the initial letter sent by Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime and coalition to further support our request.
Despite the scale and impact of IWT – one of the largest illegal markets in the world – a global agreement covering this topic still does not exist. We are writing to ask you to support this initiative by considering the merits of a global agreement, taking the form of an additional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC). As stated in theletter:
“The size and scale of wildlife trafficking is truly a global challenge and one that demands urgent action. The value of illegal trade has been estimated at between $7 and $23 billion per year.” A report by FINTRAC acknowledges, “illegal wildlife trade not only affects Canada, but poses a serious threat internationally”. Canada has signaled that this is a priority issue to address, both at home and abroad, and we were pleased to see that the mandate letter released by the Prime Minister on 16 December 2021, included a commitment for Canada to “work with partners to curb illegal wildlife trade”.
In the same mandate letter, the Canadian Government mandated an end to the elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn trade in Canada. We were very pleased to see these regulations enacted 20 November 2023. It is now time to deliver on the third item in this part of the mandate letter : new actions to combat the illegal wildlife trade.
Additionally, in December 2023, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released an updated report containing the views of 73 States and the European Union on the potential of an additional Protocol to the UNTOC covering wildlife trafficking. UNODC did not produce an analysis of the report, but the Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime – at the request of Angola – did and concluded that around 78% of the responding States are either in favour of a Protocol or open to discussing it: PRESS-RELEASE-07-DEC-UN-report-shows-clear-majority-of-States-now-favour-a-new-global-agreement-against-wildlife-trafficking-.pdf (endwildlifecrime.org)
February marked the 10th anniversary of a declaration signed by Canada and 41 other countries at the first London conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade, 2014, to implement actions to:
(1) improve law enforcement, (2) improve legal frameworks against IWT (3) reduce demand for illegal wildlife and (4) support alternative livelihoods.
Beyond Canada’s commitment of a $2 million donation in emergency funding to combat illegal wildlife trade activities in East and Central Africa, and the recent ban of elephant ivory and rhino horn along with the import of hunting trophies containing these parts, have there been further measures Canada has put into place to support the declaration signed at the London Conference?
Canada is putting together its action plan for the Global Biodiversity Framework to show action on Kunming-Montréal convention prior to CoP 16 in the fall. Because the illegal wildlife trade is a direct threat to biodiversity the inclusion of a new protocol under UNTOC would be proactive to add to its strategy on how best to curb biodiversity loss.
A protocol under UNTOC would also help bring other countries up to Canadian standards for wildlife trade.
As Minister of Environment and Climate Change, you have an important role to play in the future of our planet and the wildlife that we are intrinsically tied to for our own survival. The illegal wildlife trade undermines governance, corrupts and weakens security within a country as well as threatens its economies and biodiversity.It is imperative we end wildlife trafficking to cease the destruction of global biodiversity, help mitigate climate change, avoid future pandemics, and protect communities and economies that are reliant on the use of sustainable natural resources.
Supporting a global agreement in the form of an additional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) would show a strong commitment in working with partners to help curb the illegal wildlife trade.Thank you for your attention to this request.
After 8 long years of advocating for a ban on elephant ivory and rhino horn in Canada, regulations have been enacted by the Canadian Government to ban the elephant ivory and rhino horn trade, along with the import of hunting trophies containing these parts. We couldn’t be happier to deliver this news to all our followers and supporters who have been our backbone and inspiration to carry on and get this job done! It took a lot of courage, but – We did it!
Firstly – A HUGE shout out to us – ‘Team Elephanatics’ – who created the #IvoryFreeCanada campaign and were joined by Humane Society International Canada, Rhino and Elephant Defenders, World Elephant Day and the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada, to form the Ivory Free Canada coalition. Together, we have been relentless in our mission to get this ban passed!
And secondly, an even bigger thanks to all the scientists, NGOs, politicians, the Ivory Free Canada coalition, volunteers, friends, family, educators, journalists, and people who worked tirelessly to make this happen. From the petition, started by the Ivory Free Canada coalition, that reached over 700,000 signatures that showed overwhelming support by citizens to save elephants and rhinos; to endless advocacy; to the collaboration of like minds working together to save a species, the end result has been a success. It took a village and a community dedicated to the cause of making the world a better place for elephants to get this done and we should all be stupendously proud of our efforts!
Who would have ever guessed that a small group of committed and disciplined people, who advocated for the betterment of elephants, could evoke such integrity and inspiration from like-minded partners, and see their dream come to fruition. We are humbled and grateful.
With deepest respect, thanks, and love, to everyone who was part of this enormous endeavour.
Fran Duthie
President Elephanatics
“With courage, you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity.”
Mark Twain
Read Full Press Release – Humane Society International Canada
The numbers are staggering as we learn that humanity is responsible for a decrease in animal populations worldwide of 68% in the past 50 years. At a time when more than 1 million animals are at risk of extinction, the links between human health and the health of the planet couldn’t be clearer, as evidenced by our current pandemic. Seventy percent of emerging viral diseases are caused by human/wildlife interface. The biggest issues facing the global community today are losses to biodiversity. Loss of wildlife affects ecosystems we all rely on to keep us healthy. Learn more about how elephants help preserve our natural world and why poaching, human-elephant conflict, and illegal trade is related to our own survival.
* Exploring By The Seat Of Your Pants is an online educational program that aims to inspire the next generation of scientists, explorers and conservationists by bringing science, exploration, adventure and conservation live into classrooms through virtual speakers and field trips with leading experts across the globe.
