In April of 2022, the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) announced it had uncovered and shut down illegal timber trading schemes across 12 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The seized timber, taken from tropical forests in the region, amounted to more than $700,000. INTERPOL partnered with other organizations in this lengthy endeavor that led to the arrest of 69 individuals in this organized crime system.

INTERPOL partnered with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and organizations from the U.N., Norway and the region’s governments. USAID’s connection, in this case, to an international policing force may seem surprising at first, but not so when considering the organization’s longstanding commitment to biodiversity and sustainable development.

A Call for Sustainable Evaluation

USAID has striven to uphold the ideal of global development that aligns with environmental conservation for decades. For many years, funding projects have gone towards conservation efforts in areas of high biodiversity, focusing on tropical forests, home to most of the world’s biodiversity. Additionally, all projects require an environmental impact assessment before implementation to reduce the impacts of development on the environment.

In 2014, USAID developed a new Biodiversity Policy. The main features of this policy are:

• Conserve highly biodiverse areas.
• To look systematically at different aspects of humanitarian work through a lens of biodiversity and sustainability. 
• Deforestation risks are a “reducing threat and driver” of biodiversity loss.

These efforts align with the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goal 15, which aims to “protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems,” including through preventing deforestation.

Unveiling the Co-Benefits of Biodiversity

All the efforts by USAID and the U.N. to highlight the importance of sustainability and conservation in global development reflect how vital biodiversity is to alleviating poverty. Biodiversity is not just important for its own sake. The services provided to local communities in highly biodiverse areas are essential.

To sustain their communities, many people rely on the following:

• Healthy ecosystems that provide food and clean water 
• Protection from disease and malnutrition.
• Sustain local economies through products and employment.
• Insect populations are vital for local agriculture.

Despite their importance in decreasing and preventing poverty, these services are nearly impossible to restore or reproduce through humanitarian relief. If there is any damage to these ecosystems, the consequences might be catastrophic, including starvation, sickness and the loss of a sustainable local economy.

Environmental Crime Across the World

Illegal threats to local ecosystems, like illegal timber or wildlife trading, can have adverse ripple effects in local communities beyond just a loss of biodiversity. These industries bring with them a level of crime and corruption. They can have vast impacts on local and even national safety and can exacerbate poverty.

The illegal timber trade is estimated to be worth as much as $51-152 billion annually, representing 15-30% of all timber traded globally. The illicit timber trade takes almost half the money in all environmental violations globally. This category also includes wildlife trafficking, overfishing and pollution crimes. Illegal industries like these leave communities with greater levels of crime and poverty.

INTERPOL’s ongoing efforts and arrests, with the support of USAID, are therefore not just a win for biodiversity but also in the fight against poverty.

– Lyle Seeligson
Photo: Pexels