Wildlife brings significant ecological, cultural, and economic benefits to countries and regionsaround the world. In many developing countries, it is an engine for tourism, job creation,and sustainable development. Populations of some of the most iconic wildlife species areunder threat due to the illegal wildlife trade (IWT) and other pressures.
There is growing momentumin the international donor community to combat IWT and ensure the survival of these species and therealization of benefits to local communities that live with them.The goal of this portfolio review is to assess the current state of international donor funding to combat illegal wildlife trade and to identify trends in investment in this sector in Africa and Asia since 2010. Information on investments to combat IWT is not readily available—donor procedures, processes, and systems to collect and report on funding data are often complex and time-consuming. This portfolio review addresses these challenges by collecting and analyzing IWT funding information across international donors and fills the knowledge gap of international donor IWT funding trends. It collects data on the significant international donor funding committed between January 2010 and June 2016 to combat IWT in Africa and Asia, which totals over USD 1.3 billion and is equivalent to approximately USD 190 million per year.
This analysis provides a baseline to track future donor funding commitments and can be used to support additional donor coordination efforts. The data collected, database created, online repository, and points of contact established with donors can be used to further understand funding processes, effectiveness, and impacts and to inform donor strategic planning efforts. This analysis can be built upon in consultation with recipient countries to establish a vision of how best to optimize IWT financing in terms of priority geographic and thematic areas. Finally, a global understanding of existing contributions, trends, and target investment areas can facilitate collaboration and the sharing of lessons learned.