Wildlife Trafficking
Wildlife is in crisis all over the world, especially in Asia, with many animal and plant species driven closer to extinction every day.
This series of images were taken over the past 20 years and represent some of the many stories, commissions and projects I have worked on since the 1990’s. They cover historical photographs of the royal photographer to the king of Nepal in the early 1900’s to ethnic Karen wildlife protection units in Burma, wildlife trade in Burma’s special regions and the wildlife trade in Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal and Vietnam.
Less than nine percent of the earth has been set aside for protected areas and there is constant pressure from rampant development and commercial activities to reduce these areas even further. Poaching and the black market trade in wildlife has become a massive, multi-billion dollar global business, with trafficking routes extending from remote national parks and protected areas where animals are extracted, to major urban centers where they are sold and consumed.
Earth was until recently covered largely in ancient forests rich with an incredible diversity of species. People enjoyed oceans, rivers and wetlands full of fish and forests teaming with a seemingly endless amount of natural resources that were an intergral part of culture and society.
In a world of diminishing returns we now face an unprecedented human challenge. Climate change and the loss of species due to wildlife trade and habitat loss is now threatening the viability of ecosystems. The business of selling wildlife is so rampant and the volumes involved so large there is a real and imminent threat that if it is not stopped or significantly reduced very soon we will lose the biodiversity that is essential for earth to function. Biodiversity is fundamental to human survival on this planet. It is fundamental to the survival of all species and the single most important asset we have. There is much at stake. Attitudes must change if the human enterprise is to proceed. The choice is ours.
