Where are the weakest links in the illegal wildlife trade enforcement chain? Lessons from corruption risk assessments with agencies in three countries is a Practice Note developed for the Targeting Natural Resource Corruption (TNRC) project. It:

1. Summarizes experiences and lessons from conducting corruption risk assessments (CRAs) with authorities responsible for investigations and prosecutions of illegal wildlife trade (IWT) cases in three countries in Africa and Latin America.
2. Demonstrates the value of adopting a collaborative approach to CRAs.
3. Illustrates avenues for pursuing such an approach when the right factors are in place.
4. Demonstrates how mapping the criminal justice process provides a solid starting point to identify critical vulnerabilities.
5. Highlights factors that might recommend another approach, for example where collaboration cannot be assured.
6. Sets out some common risks that emerged from the CRAs in the three countries and that may negatively affect the progress of IWT cases in other countries. 

The practice note was developed by team members of the Basel Institute's Green Corruption programme as part of a wider research collaboration between the Basel Institute and the TNRC project consortium. 

About the TNRC project

The TNRC project seeks to improve biodiversity conservation outcomes by helping practitioners to address the threats posed by corruption to wildlife, fisheries and forests. TNRC harnesses existing knowledge, generates new evidence, and supports innovative policy and practice for more effective anti-corruption programming on the ground.

A USAID-funded project, TNRC is implemented by a consortium of leading organizations in anti-corruption, natural resource management, and conservation: World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre at the Chr. Michelsen Institute, TRAFFIC, and the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC) at George Mason University.