Duke of Cambridge attends symposium against illegal wildlife trade

<![CDATA[The Duke of Cambridge attended a symposium for United for Wildlife at the Zoological Society of London on the morning of the 12th February.
Prince William was there to discuss the international effort to combat the illegal wildlife trade with leading conservation organisations such as Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, and WWF-UK, who work with United for Wildlife.
William is the President of United for Wildlife collaboration, an umbrella organisation present in areas targeted by poaching and trafficking. Their large network of international alliances helps them to address the supply and demand issues of illegal wildlife trafficking, and also supports sustainable development in communities.

The event comes as Prince Charles and his son sent out a video message last weekend supporting such organisations which combat the illegal trade of wildlife. This began a week of awareness and conservation-based engagements for the next two heirs to the throne.
United for Wildlife’s aims include strengthening protection of areas containing ‘target’ species, i.e. those that are hunted, with new technologies, including satellite nodes, ground sensors, GPS trackers and drones.
They also want to reduce demand for such items with the help of governments and marketing campaigns by discouraging the purchase of rhino horn, ivory, tiger and pangolin parts and products; all of which come from endangered species. Helping and supporting local communities that are affected by such illegal activities is also important to the organisation. They wish to show that everyone can benefit from the end of illegal wildlife activities.
William, 31, made a speech at the symposium, saying “The Forces that are currently destroying some of the world’s endangered species are sophisticated and powerful. But this week, we are seeing the creation of an equally powerful alliance, coming together to help fight them”, referring to the global charities in attendance. He also urged others to join the organisation and do what they can to help.
The Prince then attended an evening reception at the Natural History Museum, hosted by the UK Government to mark the beginning of London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade.
Photo credit: (c) Chloe Howard]]>