PHILIPPINE National Police and Aviation Security personnel seized a box containing 26.5 kilograms of Philippine pangolin or anteater meat on January 4 at the Puerto Princesa City airport. The cargo was about to be smuggled to Manila via a Cebu Pacific flight as goat meat.

The Palawan Council for Sustainable Development announced it will pursue the case against the consigner, the buyer and others involved in the shipment in compliance with Republic Act 9147, also known as the Wildlife Resources and Conservation Act.

Earlier this week, airport authorities also seized several boxes containing anteater scales and turtle scutes at the Puerto Princesa City airport. The shipment, bound for Cebu, was declared as dried fish with an estimated value of P1 million.

The two incidents are the latest in a spate of crimes committed against wildlife not only in the Philippines, but also in the rest of the biodiversity-rich Asean region.

The Asean region has long been targeted by illegal wildlife traders as a hot spot in the lucrative, multibillion-dollar global trade of wildlife, in which both live and processed goods of most species are traded—ranging from tigers and elephants to rare orchids and indigenous medicinal herbs, from rare marine species to endemic reptiles and songbirds.

“The illegal wildlife trade has esoteric economic implications for the region, involving broad and complex networks of sourcing and marketing. It engages a diverse range of actors, including rural harvesters, professional hunters and an array of traders from wholesalers to retailers, up to the final consumers,” Rodrigo U. Fuentes, executive director of the Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), said.

While all Asean-member states are signatories to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the poaching, trafficking and illegal consumption of wildlife parts and products remain rampant.

“The scale of illegal wildlife trade is alarming. Due to the illicit nature of the trade, it has been hard to obtain exact figures, but experts estimate the value of illegal wildlife trade at $10 to $20 billion annually,” Fuentes.

Data from the Asean Wildlife Enforcement Network (Asean-WEN) show the rich biodiversity of Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar as being particularly targeted. Smugglers have been frequently caught utilizing transport links through Thailand and Vietnam.

However, poaching, transit and consumption occur in all countries in varying degrees. A significant proportion of wildlife trafficked through the Asean region is purchased by wealthy consumers from outside the region, i.e., China, Europe and the United States.

Almost all wild species—including illegally cut timber, birds, reptiles and mammals—are traded in the Asean region.

Asean-WEN estimated that 13,000 metric tons of turtles are shipped to China every year from Asean countries, where approximately three-quarters of freshwater turtle species are already considered threatened.

Illegal wildlife traders have also exported snakes in large numbers to China from Vietnam, resulting in an explosion of the local rat population in the latter, which subsequently affected crop production.

Fuentes warned that illegal wildlife trade would result in massive and irrevocable biodiversity loss if left unchecked.

The Asean-WEN said that if trends continue, scientists predict that 13 percent to 42 percent of the region’s animal and plant species could be wiped out this century. “At least half of those losses would represent global extinctions.”

In June 2010, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) declared that the illegal exploitation of natural resources and the trafficking in wildlife from Southeast Asia are disrupting fragile eco-systems and driving species to extinction.

“In the web of life, all species of animals and plants are crucial in keeping the ecological balance. If they suddenly become decimated from the food chain, there could be trouble,” warned Fuentes.

He emphasized that “Asean-member states must adopt effective legislation on wildlife law enforcement, implement the laws strictly, conduct research and capacity building on conservation of species and sustainable management of biological resources, and conduct public education and information campaigns if we are to save species like the pangolin for the survival of humankind.”

In the Philippines the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (DENR-PAWB) is implementing the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act which mandates that, “Any person or persons caught in the trading of wildlife, collecting, hunting or possessing wildlife, their by-products and derivatives, maltreating and/or inflicting other injuries and transporting wildlife, will be meted with the corresponding fines and penalties.”

DENR-PAWB is the chair of the Asean-WEN for 2011-12.

In the Asean region, authorities are strengthening inter-agency and international cooperation on law enforcement to address illegal trading of wildlife species.

The Asean-WEN is one of the key regional institutions leading the regional response in Southeast Asia to address illicit transnational trade in protected species, which threatens to drive many endangered species to extinction and endangers public health.

National efforts are also being heightened through the support by Asean-WEN, Freeland Foundation, Traffic International and the Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) for continued training and capacity development of institutions and individuals involved in combating this big business of illegal wildlife trade.

ACB and the Asean-WEN are working together to arrest illegal wildlife hunting in Southeast Asia. Under the ACB-Asean-WEN collaboration, a series of capacity-building activities enhanced the understanding by Asean-member states of CITES policy and helped developed national regulations and policies on wildlife trafficking, particularly in engaging other sectors and agencies outside of environment ministries.

In 2011, the United States Agency for International Development-funded Arrest (Asia’s Regional Response to Endangered Species Trafficking) program was launched to fight trafficking in illegal wildlife in Asia in three ways: reduce consumer demand; strengthen law enforcement; and strengthening regional cooperation and anti-trafficking networks.

Arrest partners include the Asean-WEN, Freeland Foundation, the ACB, Acres, AsiaWorks TV, Conservation International China Program, Education for Nature Vietnam, GreenEyes China, Ifaw, Interpol, JWT, National Geographic, MTV-Exit, Wildlife Alliance, US Department of State, US Department of Justice, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the US Forest Service.

“Citizens of Asean are also encouraged to contribute their share in the fight against illegal wildlife trade. Let’s stop patronizing food and accessories produced from the illegal trade, especially of endangered species. Let’s also be vigilant. We can help report cases wildlife trading,” Fuentes said.