SriLankan Airlines joins landmark global crackdown on illegal wildlife trade

SriLankan Airlines on Thursday 2nd June joined a landmark worldwide drive to crackdown on the illegal global trade in wildlife that has brought many of the world’s rare species close to extinction.

SriLankan was among several international airlines which pledged their full support for the ʻUnited for Wildlifeʼ initiative, at the annual general meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on 2nd June in Dublin, Ireland. The initiative by major organisations involved in conservation is being supported by the global transportation industry.

Captain Suren Ratwatte, CEO of SriLankan Airlines who signed on behalf of Sri Lanka’s National Carrier, said: “SriLankan Airlines has long been a pioneer of conservation within the global air transport industry, with ground-breaking initiatives such as our ‘Planet Friendly Flights’as far back as 2009, and our own extensive conservation efforts are driven by our‘Green Team’. We are delighted to join this valuable initiative which we have no doubt will significantly reduce trafficking in endangered species and animal products, and we hope this initiative will help to bring many species back from the verge of extinction.”

The initiative was created by the Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry of the UK, bringing together seven of the world’s most influential wildlife protection organisations - Conservation International (CI), Fauna & Flora International (FFI), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), WWF-UK, and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL),with The Royal Foundation. 

Through this initiative, airlines have already begun cooperating more closely with global and national law enforcement authorities and international conservation organisations such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to share information and intelligence on the illegal trade, and also enhance airline staff training, technological improvements, and resource sharing.

An IATA Environment Committee Wildlife Taskforce has been set up to monitor progress of the initiative, and IATA has also joined a separate USAID Partnership on Reducing Opportunities for Unlawful Transport of Endangered Species (ROUTES).