How The Travel Industry is Helping Protect Wildlife

PHOTO: An African Elephant in the Serengeti. (photo via Flickr/Calle v H)

ASTA, CLIA and the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) announced they will be working to help travelers recognize and avoid purchasing the illegal wildlife products that are decimating global populations of elephants, rhinos, tortoises, and other endangered species.

These actions support the mission of the U.S. Wildlife Trafficking Alliance (the Alliance), a public-private partnership in which corporate and non-profit member organizations, including WildAid and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), work with governmental entities to raise awareness about wildlife trafficking and to stop consumer demand for endangered species products. Collectively, the associations serve more than 25 million travelers a year.

"It is exciting to see the U.S. travel industry step up and use their deep relationships with the traveling public to raise awareness about the global wildlife trafficking crisis and give unsuspecting travelers the tools to make good buying decisions," said David J. Hayes, chair of the U.S. Wildlife Trafficking Alliance.

"The Alliance applauds ATTA, ASTA, and CLIA for its socially responsible leadership, in concert with the non-profit and government sectors, in working to close down the illegal wildlife markets that are fueling the senseless killing of endangered species around the globe."

The announcement came as the Alliance released its "Know Before You Go / Ask Before You Buy" digital toolkit, which provides travel and tourism industry leaders with resources they can use to engage travelers in the fight to stop wildlife trafficking.

The toolkit materials were developed through the Alliance coalition that includes travel companies; non-profits WildAid, WWF, and TRAFFIC; Discovery Communications, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The toolkit includes educational pamphlets, public service announcements, and infographics, highlighting with powerful imagery the importance of ending the demand for illegal wildlife products.

As new members of the Alliance, ASTA and CLIA have committed to distributing wildlife trafficking educational material to its member companies, encourage members to adopt policies that support the Alliance's mission, and lend the voice of their vast networks to speak on this critical issue. ATTA made similar commitments to the Alliance last spring.

All three associations have shared the toolkit with their member travel companies-a critical sector in the fight against wildlife trafficking-to educate travelers on how to avoid purchasing illegal wildlife products and to do their part to stop the demand that drives poaching and threatens endangered species.

Efforts in the travel industry come at a critical time, as wildlife around the world are under threat. From climate change to habitat loss, animals around the world are suffering steep population declines.

However, in the last decade it is illegal poaching that has been pushing endangered animals to the brink of extinction, according to the Alliance.

An unprecedented global demand for exotic wildlife products has triggered an industrial-scale killing spree of endangered species including elephants, rhinos, tigers and other endangered animals. Wildlife trafficking is a multi-billion dollar criminal industry. Money from the illegal wildlife trade has been linked to organized crime, drug lords, gangs, and corrupt governments-at the expense of wild animals, the environment, and our national security.

In terms of travel and tourism, the disappearance of animals in the wild, decreases opportunities to view them, creating a domino effect that is rippling across the travel and tourism industry. Ensuring animals remain in the wild is not only good for the wildlife and ecosystems, but it's also good for business, said the Alliance.

"The travel and tourism industry has a unique ability to reach millions of people around the world and show them how they can be part of the solution to end wildlife trafficking," said Zane Kerby, ASTA president and CEO.

"The Alliance toolkit gives industry leaders a step-by-step guide for educating travelers about the potential pitfalls they can encounter while shopping overseas," he said. "By buying informed, we can all work together to protect these treasured species for the benefit or our planet, our security, and future generations."

According to Cindy A'Doust, CLIA's president and CEO, "CLIA has been actively engaged in efforts to reduce or eliminate trade in illegal wildlife, and we are excited to continue those efforts by joining the U.S. Wildlife Trafficking Alliance.

"CLIA is proud to increase awareness among crew and the more than 25 million passengers that will sail this year," said A'Doust. "In the coming months, we will be sharing the cruise industry's perspective on reaching and education the public, and we look forward to working with other leaders in the travel and tourism industry on this important global issue."

The Alliance has expanded its network of partners over the past year to include leading companies in travel and tourism, e-commerce, fashion and jewelry, communications, non-governmental organizations, and other sectors. The full list of Alliance members and corporate commitments is available at uswta.org.

---

For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.

Topics From This Article to Explore