To stop illegal trade in wild animals, we must support justice systems in countries like Kenya and Botswana

The illegal trade in wild animals and wildlife is worth up to £20 billion a year. It endangers countless species around the globe, erodes the environment, fuels corruption and destroys communities. Its links to organised crime and terrorism are clear.

We now know that it also creates global pandemics that threaten our very way of life. The current Covid-19 crisis caused a devastating economic crisis and catastrophic loss of life worldwide and, most likely, all from an illegally traded pangolin.

With up to 75 per cent of new diseases coming from animals, as crime threats go, the illegal wildlife trade is one of the most serious facing our world today.

Despite this, the global response remains piecemeal. While billions are spent each year in the fight against international terrorism, drugs or migration, few genuinely prioritise illegal wildlife crime.

Effective investigations, yet alone convictions for wildlife traffickers, remain rare. Those convicted are often the poor and desperate, caught red handed, but rarely are the organisers punished. Successes, such as they are, are rightly celebrated; seizures are announced in a blaze of publicity, but the real criminals behind this pernicious trade remain untroubled.

This has to change.

As HRH Prince William told the United for Wildlife Taskforce, urgent steps are needed to prevent the next pandemic and any action must be designed to help eradicate this illegal trade in wildlife. This must include an effective justice response.

The Independent's Stop The Illegal Wildlife Trade campaign understands this; they know that support to justice systems in source, transit and destination countries is vital and that is why they have joined with Space for Giants, who are doing so much to address this challenge.

Space for Giants have taken a strategic and sustained approach to working with partners on illegal wildlife crime and deliver excellent support to justice systems in countries like Kenya and Botswana. Space for Giants have demonstrated and delivered real improvements in the response to illegal wildlife crime and that is why I am delighted to support them as part of the Stop the Illegal Wildlife Trade campaign.

As Head of International in the Crown Prosecution Service, I built a decade of success on long term in country support, working with key partners on a variety of crime challenges; and so, I recognise the excellent work Space for Giants have done and continue to do; that is why I am delighted to support these efforts.

As a senior counter terrorism prosecutor immediately following 9/11, I know effective investigations and prosecutions are critical to protect us from any form of serious crime. Prosecution is not the answer, but it is definitely part of the answer. Crime flourishes where there is impunity and weak rule of law. As International Director at the Crown Prosecution Service, this fundamental understanding was the foundation of all we did around the world; and that is how we made a real difference.

Using the experiences learned in the fight against a new threat post 9/11, we built a global network of justice advisors as a vital part of the UK’s national security strategy; and their impact was significant. Facing the global threat from the illegal wildlife trade, we need a similarly serious and committed response.

Every country has its own unique issues, challenges and politics, but there are certain fundamental principles that every justice system needs; police have to investigate; prosecutors have to prosecute, and judges have to ensure fairness and efficiency. There must be checks and balances that work; those involved must be treated properly; things need to be more transparent, consistent and reliable; and people must work together.

I have worked in countries all over the world and a functioning justice system remains critical to almost everything we hope to achieve. The rule of law really is the golden thread that runs through all policy objectives, particularly if the aim is to reduce serious crime.

The justice advisor network I led provided strategic and sustained support to governments, justice leaders and operational partners around the globe. From Pakistan to Peru, and in over 30 countries in between, we worked with Ministers, policy makers and practitioners to develop meaningful improvements to justice systems that made a real difference in the fight against terrorism and serious crime.  Progress was always greatest where we focused on fundamental principles such as joint working, clarity, transparency and fairness.

Prosecuting serious, international crime such as the illegal wildlife trade is hard. It needs people to share intelligence, use forensic and data-based evidence and it needs covert techniques. Justice systems must work across borders - we need to not only ‘follow the money’, we need to catch it up and seize it!

But none of this is possible if a justice system cannot comfortably deliver the basics. Too often justice systems are based on arbitrary, opaque decisions to prosecute which create mistrust and make corruption all too easy. Trials are based on disputed ‘confessions’ or eyewitnesses risking their lives in court, and backlogs of years, sometimes decades, all combine to defeat the hard work of those fighting to do good.

And if a justice system cannot work together domestically, how can it ever do so internationally?

Huge efforts are made globally to improve this. But a focus on specialist skills and knowledge, or one part of the justice system, often ignores the fundamental fact that the system as a whole is not working. But it doesn’t have to be like that. I have seen firsthand that one or two systemic changes, that have political buy-in and are implemented and supported, create real improvements in ways that a lifetime of specialist training will not.

In the UK, we have no room for complacency, but lessons learned from dealing with serious crime for decades, and some catastrophic miscarriages of justice, mean we can be incredibly helpful to those struggling to deal with illegal wildlife crime if we share our experiences. As long as we work in true partnerships with genuine local leadership and ownership, progress is possible. Sustainable and transformational change is possible.  You can make it better.

So, whatever else we do, and much is needed for a comprehensive response, we must address weak justice systems and improve the Rule of Law in key source and destination countries. And that is why this is a crucial part of The Independent’s Stop the Illegal Wildlife Trade campaign.

I have seen what can be achieved when good people come together and do good work: Space for Giants understand this. As Rule of Law Director in the Optima Group, I am therefore delighted to support this work as a crucial part of The Independent's Stop The Illegal Wildlife Trade campaign; to work with them, and partners in Africa, and to help provide a long term, joined up response to this vital global challenge.

Working together this way, we can make a real difference.

Patrick Stevens is Rule of Law Director at Optima and former Head of International at the Crown Prosecution Service