West Africa Strategy on Combating Wildlife Crime: Briefing Note for Policy Makers

The West Africa Strategy on Combatting Wildlife Crime (WASCWC) creates a new and innovative mechanism to significantly reduce wildlife crime and other related threats to improve biodiversity conservation for the welfare and socio-economic development of West Africans. It provides a framework through which all relevant stakeholders will be able to coordinate a robust response to wildlife crime, confident that their combined efforts will result in a more secure and diverse environment for future generations of West African citizens. The Strategy reflects the priorities of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), its Member States and the wider global community, and will ensure that any utilization of the region’s natural resources is undertaken in a legal, sustainable and traceable way that guarantees long-term benefits to the region’s economies.