Around the world, endangered species are being driven to the point of extinction by the demand for illegal wildlife products. Despite our best efforts, the criminals are still winning. To turn the tide, we need to rethink our approach. That means recognising that everyone has a part to play – including the financial sector.
The scale of the challenge is enormous, and the statistics are alarming. More than 30 000 elephants are killed each year. Tigers have become so rare that there are more of them living in US captivity than in the wild. And there is a real human cost as well – approximately 1 000 wildlife rangers have been killed in the last 10 years while trying to protect endangered species.
