Whistleblowing is being used to fight poaching in Africa thanks to WildLeaks, a website started by a group of conservationists.
The founders of WildLeaks claim the website to be the first secure, online whistle-blowing platform created for fighting wildlife crimes, according to Discovery News. Anonymous tip-offs are used by WildLeaks to stop poachers, who often use powerful connections to avoid charges.
"We got, for example, a very interesting leak on a very powerful individual in Kenya, linked to the government, who is behind the ivory trade," said Andrea Costa, founder and longtime conservationist. He added that these criminals often have too much power to be taken down from within the government.
"You need help from outside," said Costa, who is also a former security consultant. "So right now, we're trying to gather more evidence."
A team of legal and security experts review tips given by whistleblowers on crimes that could result in the arrest and prosecution of traffickers, criminals, and corrupt government officials, RIA Novosti reported. After reviewing the reports, the experts determine if they should be investigated further.
Since its launch in February, WildLeaks has received close to 45 tips, 28 of which have been useful in combating poaching. Tips sent to the website covered elephant poaching in Africa, illegal ivory trading in Hong Kong, illegal logging and imports of illegal African wildlife products to the U.S.
The last decade has seen an increase in the poaching of tigers, elephants, rhinos and other species, which Interpol said has resulted in $10-20 billion in illegal wildlife trade each year, according to RIA Novosti. No tips have been provided to WildLeaks yet from Tanzania, which has been connected to one-third of the ivory seized in Asia.
Costa said the only way that WildLeaks can succeed in its mission to protect wildlife is if the public knows about it and trusts the platform.
WildLeaks has received praise from several other wildlife organizations for its new method for taking down poachers, Discovery News reported. Such groups include TRAFFIC, the top wildlife trade monitoring network in the world, and the Conservation Group of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, which has been working with WildLeaks to stop the sale of great apes in Central and West Africa.
"It does appear to be a new approach within the wildlife crime sector," said Richard Thomas from TRAFFIC. "It could prove its worth over time, if useful information is received and directed towards appropriate professional enforcement agencies for follow-up action."
"I think that it's a really smart idea," said Mimi Arandjelovic, member of the Conservation Group. "There are also a lot of taboos that people might feel about reporting these sorts of things, so having an anonymous way of reporting it can only be positive."
