Two of the Basel Institute's experts on intelligence and illegal wildlife trade (IWT) will present on how to put an end to wildlife crime as part of the University of Oklahoma's Global Risks & Threats Series.

Among other insights, Dr Timothy Wittig and Dr Patricia Raxter will explain how companies and financial institutions can work together to cut off access to the financial and logistical channels that the traffickers use. 

The experts run a specialist IWT intelligence team at the Basel Institute that supports the United for Wildlife Transport and Financial Taskforces with high-impact intelligence and analysis on illegal wildlife trade. United for Wildlife, an initiative of The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, has set the goal to stop IWT by making it impossible for traffickers to use the services of commercial transport and financial companies.

With massive worldwide attention on wildlife trafficking due to its alleged role in triggering the covid-19 pandemic, this topic is sure to generate strong interest among the participants at the virtual event.

The four-part virtual series gathers leaders from the intelligence, finance, law enforcement, corporate and cyber sectors to explore global challenges and real-world solutions. The first event on The Pandemic Threat: Risks and Impacts of COVID-19 takes place on Saturday, 6 June from 10:00-14:00 Central Time (15:00-19:00 GMT) via Zoom. The Basel Institute's team will participate in a follow-up event on Saturday, 18 July.

For details and to register for the series, see the University of Oklahoma Global Risks & Threats Series press release.

Learn more about the risks of wildlife crime and corruption

• Special analysis: How will COVID-19 impact global wildlife trafficking? A United for Wildlife report published in partnership with the Basel Institute on Governance, 1 April 2020
• COVID-19: How anti-corruption tools and industry collaboration can help us win the fight against illegal wildlife trade, Tim Wittig, 17 February 2020
• Quick guide to illegal wildlife trade and financial crime, Gretta Fenner, 26 November 2019