Global Threats in the Illegal Wildlife Trade and Advances in Response
A special issue of Laws (ISSN 2075-471X). This special issue belongs to the section "Criminal Justice Issues".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 May 2025) | Viewed by 5479
Special Issue Editors
Interests: wildlife crime; illegal wildlife trade; conservation social sciences; green criminology; environmental justice
Interests: wildlife crime; illegal wildlife trade; wildlife justice; organized crime; illicit finance; corruption; gender and crime
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Thank you for your interest in this Special Issue on “Global Threats in the Illegal Wildlife Trade and Advances in Response”. As defined by the Wildlife Conservation Society, the illegal wildlife trade includes the smuggling, poaching, capture, or collection of endangered species, protected wildlife, and derivatives or products thereof. Wildlife trafficking affects thousands of species of flora and fauna worldwide and drives environmental degradation, climate change, and public health risks; it is estimated to be the fourth most profitable transnational crime.
As illegal wildlife trade actors target lucrative new markets and innovate to evade existing enforcement interventions whilst taking advantage of climate-induced resource scarcity, enforcement agencies, justice actors, academics, and researchers around the world are making corresponding advances. Developments within the field include new investigation and prosecution techniques, detection tools, and technology, as well as legal mechanisms and regulatory frameworks to counter this crime.
The aim of this Special Issue is to explore contemporary global threats in the illegal wildlife trade and examine the innovative advances designed to combat them. The scope of submissions is therefore broad. However, amongst other themes within the wider sphere of green criminology and environmental justice, we are keen to receive submissions which consider novel threats linked to cyber-enabled illegal wildlife trade, species trends, convergence, legal trade, illicit finance, and climate change. We are also excited to explore advances in societal responses, including formal and informal controls, organizational capacity building, the use of technology, and the development of robust, effective, and human-centered conservation initiatives, such as demand reduction. Through this, we hope to contribute to the growing body of literature which aims to protect our biodiversity.
As part of this Special Issue, we are eager to receive submissions from academics, conservationists, and practitioners engaged in combating the illegal wildlife trade. If you are a practitioner interested in contributing and would like to discuss the possibility of pairing with an academic, please do not hesitate to contact one of the Guest Editors for this Special Issue.
Dr. Nicholas Pamment
Guest Editor
Anne-Marie Weeden
Guest Editor Assistant
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Laws is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- wildlife crime
- illegal wildlife trade
- conservation social sciences
- conservation criminology
- green criminology
- environmental justice
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