Communities as the First Line of Defence in Combatting Illegal Wildlife Trade: Sharing Lessons to Influence Policy and Practice

This learning exchange workshop brought together key stakeholders in Eastern and Southern Africa to share lessons and insights and to develop policy messages and recommendations to guide future work on IWT.

The workshop was organised by the IUCN Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO), IUCN Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Specialist Group (SULi) and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), with support from the Partnership against Poaching and IWT, implemented by GIZ on behalf of the German government, and the UK government IWT Challenge Fund.

Day one included an overview of communities and IWT, with presentations on the First Line of Defence (FLoD) initiative and the People Not Poaching platform. Several organisations also presented on their experiences in the field and the lessons they've learnt in engaging communities in IWT. Day two was focussed on how to influence policy, including developing key policy messages and how best to utilise the different platforms where these messages can be discussed.