How new intervention hub will tackle transboundary wildlife crime

From the newsletter

The International Fund for Animal Welfare has established a wildlife crime intervention hub in Uganda to manage transboundary trafficking routes. Uganda has become a consolidation point for ivory, rhino horn and pangolin scales smuggled from across East and Central Africa and moved through West African ports to international markets, according to recent assessments.

• The hub will coordinate anti-trafficking operations, wildlife rescue, habitat restoration and community engagement programmes. 

• It targets wildlife trafficking transit routes, addressing enforcement gaps and promoting cross-border collaboration. The centre aims to disrupt illegal trade and could inspire similar models across Africa.

More details

• The hub will also spearhead conservation interventions in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan, where insecurity, civil unrest and the proliferation of illegal firearms have increased risks for wildlife and weakened the law enforcement system. “This intervention hub positions Uganda at the heart of a regional response to wildlife crime,” said Moses Olinga, IFAW’s Programme Manager for Uganda and the Horn of Africa.

• In the 2018 Wildlife Trafficking Assessment Report by TRAFFIC, Uganda was named a major transit route for wildlife contraband. In 2024, Lusaka Agreement Taskforce officer Wesley Kipkazi reported that traffickers exploit porous borders in Kenya, South Sudan, Djibouti and Ethiopia and conflict in Somalia and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, to funnel illegal shipments through Uganda to West Africa. 

• Contraband is smuggled in small quantities into Uganda, consolidated in secure locations and concealed in cargo such as scrap metal, charcoal and bananas before being transported by trucks to Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal and Pointe-Noire in the Republic of Congo. This has created a complex challenge for law enforcement agencies in Uganda and across the wider East African region.

• Many anti-poaching initiatives target poaching hotspots or end markets, but transit hubs often remain overlooked. IFAW’s focus on Uganda as a transit hub for wildlife trafficking enforces the need to address enforcement gaps at critical points along the trade route. Fragmented enforcement enables traffickers to consolidate illegal shipments and move them onwards to international markets, reinforcing the importance of stronger controls at these transit locations.

• Both wildlife populations and trafficking routes extend across national borders, making cross-border collaboration essential for conservation and law enforcement. By establishing operations in Uganda, IFAW is creating a regional hub that works across several countries. If effective, the Ugandan hub could serve as a model for similar intervention centres in other trafficking corridors.

Our take

• The intervention hub exposes how illegal trade, porous borders and armed conflict intersect to threaten both species and societies. By targeting Uganda’s role in transboundary trafficking, the hub strengthens biodiversity protection while reinforcing regional stability. 

• Conservation, in this context, becomes a tool for security and resilience, addressing environmental crime and its links to wider instability across East and Central Africa.