The Elephant Action League was in charge of the creation of the new site, which allows anyone from anywhere to submit documents, video, or images relating to wildlife or forest crimes. Users are able to submit such items anonymously and choose from two levels of encryption. Security is especially important given that in many cases wildlife and forest crimes involve local corruption by government employees or other officials. After Wildleaks receives the documents, it will act in various ways depending on the information - working to transform the information into an action item.
Last year over 1,000 rhinos were slaughtered for their horns in South Africa alone by poachers, while conservationists estimate that 22,000-35,000 elephants were killed in Africa in 2012. Estimates on the number of poached big cats, primates, and thousands of other species of mammals, birds and marine animals are harder to come by, but evidence points to a global epidemic. Meanwhile, illegal logging has been estimated to be worth $30-$100 billion worldwide, and accounts for 10-30% of deforestation in the tropics. Wildlife trafficking and illegal logging often occur in tandem, and both have been linked to other criminal activities, such as drugs, arms smuggling, and human trafficking.
Governments are beginning to respond, although sluggishly and many years late. Several governments have burned their ivory stockpiles in recent years and notched up rhetoric against the wildlife trade. Many have already, or are currently mulling, strengthening laws and increasing the severity of punishments. A recent summit in London on the trade produced a 46-country agreement for stronger international action against wildlife crimes. Meanwhile, new laws in the U.S., the EU, and Australia have been launched in order to curb illegal logging abroad, while some countries - such as Brazil - have moved aggressively to tackle deforestation.
Click here to read about President Obama's new strategy to tackle wildlife trafficking, including toughening the ivory ban
Photo Credit: WildLeaks