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.
When you look into the eyes of a wild elephant, you get an overwhelming sense of your own humility. During a trip to Kenya’s Maasai Mara, a matriarch charged our jeep, stopping just three feet away. In that heart-stopping moment, our eyes met—a stark reminder that we are in their world, and the only way to truly protect nature and wildlife is to listen to it.
Today, that protection is failing on a global scale. Transnational crime syndicates generate $199 billion annually through illegal wildlife trafficking—often operating through the same organized networks that smuggle weapons, illicit drugs, and human beings, taking advantage of weak laws and low penalties.
Elephanatics and World Elephant Day have collaborated to rally Canadians to demand our government support a binding Wildlife Crime Protocol under the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC). With crucial discussions unfolding at the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) this September and leading directly into the 13th Conference of the Parties (COP13) in Vienna this October, your local Member of Parliament needs to hear from you today.
(Your letter is automatically formatted and sent directly to your local Member of Parliament based on your postal code.)
Why We Need Action Ahead of CCPCJ & UNTOC COP13
Today, transnational wildlife trafficking is a multi-billion-dollar criminal enterprise. Poachers and organized syndicates exploit legal loopholes across borders, pushing vulnerable species toward extinction worldwide because international law continues to treat wildlife crime as a minor offense.
After an eight-year campaign, Elephanatics successfully helped push through strict new regulations to end Canada’s trade in elephant ivory and rhino horn in 2024. Now, we must finish the job on the global stage.
A legally binding UNTOC Protocol will:
Close Legal Loopholes: Harmonize global laws so traffickers cannot hide behind weak borders.
Target Syndicates: Give law enforcement cross-border intelligence tools to freeze cartel assets.
Impose Severe Penalties: Treat wildlife crime with the exact same legal severity as human, arms, and drug trafficking.
Stand With Us Before the Fall UN Summits
I will never forget the moment nature challenged me to respect its voice. Now, decision-makers in Ottawa need to hear yours.
As students across British Columbia return to the classroom this September, Elephanatics, in partnership with World Elephant Day, is launching our most crucial educational initiative yet: the Wildlife Crime Civic Action Student Toolkit.
Wildlife trafficking is one of the most lucrative transnational crimes in the world, threatening keystone species like African elephants and destabilizing fragile ecosystems. Real change requires systemic international policy—and our youth have a vital role to play in driving that conversation.
Why This Matters to Every Single One of Us 🌍
It is easy to view wildlife trafficking strictly as an animal welfare issue, but wildlife crime is environmental crime. Elephants and other keystone species are the vital pillars holding entire ecosystems together—ecosystems that produce our clean air, store carbon, maintain soil health, and protect global water cycles.
When criminal syndicates strip ecosystems of their natural biodiversity, they accelerate ecological collapse, increase human exposure to zoonotic diseases, and threaten local communities dependent on natural resources. Fighting for a global UNTOC Wildlife Crime Protocol isn’t just about protecting iconic species; it is about defending the natural systems that sustain human life and safeguarding our shared planet against organized environmental destruction.
A Free, Hands-On Resource for Secondary Classrooms 📚
Designed for Grades 6–12 Science, Social Studies, and English Language Arts, this interdisciplinary resource connects classroom learning directly with real-world civic engagement.
Through engaging modules, students will explore:
🌾 Environmental Crime & Ecosystems: How transnational wildlife trafficking destabilizes global ecosystems, economic security, and public health.
🌐 Organized Crime Syndicates: How multi-billion-dollar criminal networks exploit legal gaps across international borders.
✍️ Civic Action & Democracy: The power of democratic participation through targeted advocacy letter-writing to Canadian government leaders.
Why the Timing Matters ⏳
This October, world leaders are gathering for a major global summit on international organized crime. Ahead of this critical summit, Canadian students have a unique window of opportunity to make their voices heard by writing directly to decision-makers and Members of Parliament, advocating for stronger global laws to shut down wildlife trafficking networks.
How You Can Help Drive Immediate Impact 🚀
Whether you are an educator, parent, or supporter, here is how you can help us reach classrooms this fall:
📣 Share the Toolkit with Teachers: Pass our free curriculum package along to secondary educators, science coordinators, or school principals in your community.
📥 Download the Materials: Explore the lesson plan and letter-writing guides directly on our website.
🌐 Spread the Word: Share our campaign link on social media to build momentum.
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.
