The Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC) is an international NGO comprised of law enforcement and legal experts dedicated to fighting transnational organized wildlife crime. WJC envisions a world without wildlife crime, where governments effectively enforce the law to protect vulnerable species. By targeting the most impactful offenders, WJC works to ensure that organized crime is not driving species to extinction.
From its establishment in 2015 to the end of last year, it has conducted 34 investigations throughout Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas to dismantle 62 criminal networks of wildlife crime with a 100% conviction rate for cases that were filed in court. Their work has helped save over 12,000 live animals from the illegal pet trade and has led to the publishing of 19 reports, shaping policy, UN reports, and academic discourse.
A notable achievement of WJC recent efforts has been the significant expansion of their capacity-building initiatives for law enforcement agencies. WJC have successfully conducted specialised intelligence and investigations training, complemented by a mentoring program, in seven countries. This approach has yielded remarkable outcomes, such as the arrests of high-level wildlife traffickers, particularly in countries like Thailand and Mozambique.
Since 2022, WJC has contributed to 13 high-level policy documents, advocating for change at platforms including the UN General Assembly, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ), the Conference of the State Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), and the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC).
To protect vulnerable species from exploitation, WJC:
- conducts intelligence-led investigations
- bridges the intelligence gap with intelligence analysis
- shares intelligence and investigative findings with governments and stakeholders
- builds sustainable solutions through training and mentoring
- urges governments to act
