EIA Global Environmental Crime Tracker
Map/tracking of environmental crimes including trade in ivory, rhino, big cats, and other exotic animals.
URL
https://eia-international.org/global-environmental-crime-tracker/
Description
The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) Global Environmental Crime Tracker is a central public database which provides information about different types of international crime. Using publicly available information including government reports, enforcement agency press releases and non-governmental and academic papers, international news coverage and details from partner NGOs, the tracker allows the user to track global trends through tools such as dashboards and maps.
The tracker can illustrate smuggling and trafficking hotspots as well as transportation routes. A researcher can select an animal and examine various types of data associated with it, which is unique to each animal: a map of incidents, how many incidents happened by year, the destination country, what parts of the animal were harvested and how many. A user can also look at individual trackers for illegal logging, illegal refrigerant gas and illegal logging which includes data including maps of incidents, weight or volume and specific information such as species of timber or types of gas. A researcher may also examine the data by mapping, prosecutors and trade routes.
According to the EIA, the tracker covers criminal activity in North American, Asia, Africa and Europe and has focused on elephants, pangolins, rhinos, tigers, leopards in their Asian range, snow leopards, clouded leopards, the totoaba fish and timber. In April 2022, the tracker was updated to include illegal trade of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) climate-harming gases. It currently does not cover Latin America, Antarctica or Oceania.
Cost
Level of difficulty
Requirements
Internet access is required to use the tracker.
Limitations
The EIA is a small NGO with a limited capacity to collect data. Not all information is available by open-source means and the EIA does contact all law enforcement agencies at the local level. It also does not identify all seizure and prosecutions.
Ethical Considerations
The EIA acknowledges one of its donors is the UK government through the IWT Challenge Fund, which specifically supports the EIA's prosecution dashboard.
Guide
EIA's User Guide
EIA has a video that offers an overview of the tracker.
Tool provider
The EIA, which works to protect the natural world by exposing environmental crimes and abuses and the responsible parties through investigations. The EIA also campaigns for better environmental protection through stronger enforcement of environmental laws, progressive policies and changes in consumer behavior. The EIA's offices are in the United Kingdom.
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