AU to implement wildlife crime fighting strategy: official

The African Union (AU) Commission is currently identifying African experts who will drive the implementation of the African Strategy on Illegal Exploitation and Illegal Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora in the continent, an AU official said on Tuesday.

The African Strategy is a framework designed by the African countries to tackle the illegal trade in wild fauna and flora, Leah Naess Wanambwa, a senior policy officer in the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture at the AU Commission, told Xinhua.

She was attending the 17th Conference of Parties (COP17) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Spices of Wild Fauna and Flora, taking place in Johannesburg.

The African strategy was approved by the African Heads of States during the AU Summit in South Africa in 2015.

"The Strategy is formulated to guide a common, coordinated response by countries in Africa to combat the illegal trade in wild fauna and flora," she said.

"It is meant to prevent, reduce and eventually eliminate the illegal trade in wild fauna and flora in Africa through the implementation of an African wide strategic framework," she said.

When to start the implementation of the strategy will depend on how they will set up the first expert group, Wanambwa said.

Wanambwa said the AU Commission is in the process of setting up a coordination mechanism for the implementation of the African Strategy.

"We hope to have the expert group formed soon after COP17," the official said. Endit