Zenodo, 13 March 2025: Biodiversity loss is driven by overexploitation and agriculture, with global wildlife trade playing a significant role in natural resource depletion. The trade, encompassing live animals, plants, and derived products, contributes to species extinction and represents a major economic activity valued at US Dollar 145-220 billion annually. The European Union (EU) is a key market, importing wildlife products worth approximately Euro 100 billion. While legal trade has surged, illegal wildlife trade remains a significant transnational crime, disproportionately affecting endangered species and valued at US Dollar 20 billion annually.
Monitoring wildlife trade is challenging due to gaps in species-level data and inadequate regulation of many traded species. This lack of oversight hampers conservation and increases biosecurity risks, including zoonotic disease transmission. Global databases like the United Nations Comtrade provide insufficient species-specific details, limiting regulatory effectiveness.
The EU’s Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES) offers a powerful, underutilized tool for wildlife trade monitoring. Originally designed for biosecurity, TRACES provides real-time tracking of wildlife imports across 90+ countries in 39 languages. Its advantages include comprehensive data collection, real-time monitoring, cross-border integration, species-level identification, automated data handling, and enhanced risk assessment. Studies indicate significant gaps in species identification within TRACES, which could be addressed through stricter enforcement and data verification.
Rather than developing new systems, the EU should strengthen TRACES enforcement to improve legal trade regulation, combat illegal activities, and enhance biodiversity conservation. By leveraging TRACES, the EU can reinforce its leadership in sustainable wildlife trade regulation, protecting endangered species while promoting ecological integrity.
Read the paper: https://zenodo.org/records/15017226