Best Practice Case Studies from Selected Airports: Combating Illegal Wildlife Trade

Wildlife trafficking is the illegal trade of protected specimens of plants and animals. This illicit trade exposes passengers and staff to health and safety hazards and may harm corporate reputations throughout industry supply chains.

In the past decade, trafficking instances were recorded in airports in at least 136 countries in almost every region of the world, making airports in any region and at any size vulnerable to wildlife trafficking. It is a global issue that requires global efforts, and airports are uniquely positioned to help address it.

ACI has been working with some of its pioneering members to address this problem, and gathered information how airports can take action in stopping this illicit trade. This document, produced with the support from USAID ROUTES Partnership, is the result of this initiative. It will provide insight in the types of actions that airports have taken, the motivations behind to take action, and the challenges faced in the process.

This report draws on the testimonies of the following airports:

• Heathrow
• Kenya Airport Authority
• Royal Schiphol Group
• Galapagos Ecological Airport
• Nassau Airport Development Company