Lawrence I. on LinkedIn: Iceland permits whale hunting amid sharp criticism (2024)

Second in a new series of podcasts by my friend Mike Brewer, a former detective in the British police. In this one he discusses counter-wildlife trafficking with Grant Miller MBE of ZSL.

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There are a number of good points raised here and they impact directly on the future of conservation.There is a persistent attitude that poachers / wildlife criminals are below the law and that any measures are reasonable in dealing with them. This is both morally objectionable and a legal fiction. Nonetheless this attitude prevails and there have been several recent news articles and one book that claim to relate incidences of human rights abuses by LE staff. I'm sad to say I find all the reports believable, based on my own experience.The point about LE personnel being prosecuted under specific Human Rights law or simply criminal legislation for acts of self-defence alludes to potential weaknesses in operational procedures.If rangers adhere to well defined and legally derived RoE there should not be any spurious convictions. If rangers are being given firearms without this sort of protection they are being done a disservice by their leaders.I am convinced that the militarisation of conservation LE in the last 2 decades has contributed directly to incidences of human rights abuse and also ranger deaths. As a sector we need to take a long hard look at how we do business and come up with a more professional model.

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It might be useful to incorporate a formal clinical trial in the trips and publish the results, to demonstrate how entirely ineffective rhino horn is for any sort of medical issue.

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'Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat'. Sun Tzu.In mid-December 2023 I led my first course on Law Enforcement Strategy for Protected Areas in Vientiane, Laos PDR. It was attended by a great group of managers from across the WCS Greater Mekong Region and adjoining country programmes.The course touched on Strategy Development, the Planning Cascade, Intelligence for Conservation LE and Patrol Theory, all pitched at the senior manager level. It was a great few days for me, meeting some old friends and making new ones. And, as ever, wonderful to be in Vientiane.Thanks, again, to everyone involved at WCS for their support and enthusiasm.

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This is a request for help to any of my connections specialising in countering IWT.A friend of mine is studying the IWT as part of his honours degree in the UK and is looking for practitioners who might be open to a short interview. The interviews are no longer than 40 minutes. Timings are flexible.If anyone can help me out with this, I'd be grateful. Please get in touch with me direct and I will put you in touch.Thanks in advance.

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An interesting article, repeated on a number of news sites in the last few days, about work to resurrect the Northern White Rhino from technical extinction. There's also an interesting rider about whether the investment put into this project would be better employed elsewhere. But would resources on this scale be available for less iconic species?https://lnkd.in/d7KtmjkH

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This is a Tree (or White Bellied) Pangolin being released deep in the park after having been recovered from a trafficker. It was given a good check over by specialist vets and given the all clear for release.These are usually nocturnal. So this is a rare chance to see one in full, tree-climbing action.

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