Uganda Develops Database For Wildlife Crime Offenders

WCS and Uganda Wildlife Authority collaborate on online tool

LONDON (February 10, 2014) – The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) announced today a collaboration to produce an online tool that will allow law enforcement officials to access a database that tracks offenders of wildlife crime in real-time and across the country. The announcement was made as conservationists gather from around the world for the United for Wildlife symposium – “International Wildlife Trafficking: Solutions to a Global Crisis” tackle wildlife trafficking issues.

The database, which can be updated online at all Uganda parks and headquarters, will enable better monitoring of arrests and identification of repeat offenders and their associates. It will allow park managers to better track prosecutions while enabling the export of data for further analyses.

In addition, the database allows UWA staff to assess which wildlife crimes are on the increase in the country by providing summary statistics by park and also to profile those involved in wildlife crime in the country. The results will be used to identify where and when people are undertaking illegal activities and who is involved.

“This new online system will allow Uganda Wildlife Authority park managers and enforcement staff to better track offenders of wildlife crimes,” said Dr Andrew Plumptre, the Director of WCS’s Albertine Rift Program and Uganda Country Director. “In the past, repeat offenders of wildlife crimes were often prosecuted as first-time criminals and given lesser sentences because this information was not readily accessed.”

WCS is currently training UWA staff on how to use the new system, which is expected to officially launch in the coming weeks. There is an urgent need for additional funding to expand the capabilities of the system to include scanning finger-prints of offenders so that they can be identified if giving false names.

Wildlife crime is on the increase across Africa, particularly the poaching of elephants for ivory. While poaching of elephants has not been very high in Uganda, it was recently included in the “Gang of Eight” by CITES as a country that is not managing to address ivory trafficking through the country. This database was created as a partial response to this need to better tackle wildlife crime across the country. WCS plans on making the database software available to park managers in other African nations and there is already interest from some countries.

Charles Tumwesigye, Deputy Director for Conservation in UWA, said: “The wildlife crime offender’s database will help us to secure higher penalties in court for notorious offenders, as we will be able to prove that some offenders have committed crimes more than once.”

The database was developed with the financial support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and with technical inputs from Maisha Consulting Ltd. It was designed and programmed by Jan Kirstein of JayKsoft, a Uganda-based company.

CONTACT:
STEPHEN SAUTNER: (1-718-220-3682; ssautner@wcs.org)
JOHN DELANEY: (1-718-220-3275; jdelaney@wcs.org)
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
MISSION: WCS saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature. VISION: WCS envisions a world where wildlife thrives in healthy lands and seas, valued by societies that embrace and benefit from the diversity and integrity of life on earth. To achieve our mission, WCS, based at the Bronx Zoo, harnesses the power of its Global Conservation Program in more than 60 nations and in all the world’s oceans and its five wildlife parks in New York City, visited by 4 million people annually. WCS combines its expertise in the field, zoos, and aquarium to achieve its conservation mission. Visit: www.wcs.org; facebook.com/TheWCS; youtube.com/user/WCSMedia; follow: @theWCS.

The MacArthur Foundation supports creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. In addition to selecting the MacArthur Fellows, the Foundation works to defend human rights, advance global conservation and security, make cities better places, and understand how technology is affecting children and society. More information is at www.macfound.org.