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Editorial: Influencing consumer demand is vital for tackling the illegal wildlife trade (Open Access)
Consumer demand is an integral part of any market system, and the markets involving wildlife products are no exception ('t Sas-Rolfes et al., 2019). Tackling the illegal wildlife trade (IWT) for the benefit of biodiversity conservation requires understanding and influencing consumer demand (Veríssimo et al., 2020). While demand reduc-tion activities are increasing (Veríssimo & Wan, 2019), they remain poorly funded, with only 6% of the funds committed globally to re-duce IWT focused on consumer demand (World Bank Group, 2016). This lack of investment is also reflected in the knowledge base, with limited research focused on understanding the drivers of consumer demand for illegal wildlife products, and the existing knowledge focused largely on a few species of birds and mammals (Margulies et al., 2019). We hope the Consuming wildlife – managing demand for wildlife products special feature can showcase the different types of research needed to start filling this gap.
Veríssimo, D., 't Sas‐Rolfes, M. and Glikman, J.A. (2020), Influencing consumer demand is vital for tackling the illegal wildlife trade. People Nat, 2: 872-876.
Published: Dec 2020 | Categories: Research Articles