Stop wildlife trafficking exhibition at the European Parliament

From July 9th to 13th, an exhibition on Wildlife Trafficking took place at the European Parliament in Brussels, to raise awareness on the issue and on its consequences.

The exhibition, organized by the CBD Belgian National Focal Point (Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences), in collaboration with CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), WWF, IFAW, CEBioS and several other NGO’s and museums. They had a series of informative posters, several brochures, a video sequence, a virtual reality show and some beautiful specimens and objects on display.

During an event on July 10th, hosted by Ms. Catherine Bearder (Member of the European Parliament) and promotor of this initiative, and with the presence of Ms. Camille Pisani (General Director of the RBINS), speakers of the European Commission, the Federal Public Service (FPS) Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment, and of the Cabinet of the Belgian Minister of Energy, Environment and Sustainable development, Marie-Christine Marghem, delivered speeches.

This exhibition should make policy makers at the European Parliament more aware of the illegal big business of wildlife trafficking, the criminal networks involved, the  serious health-security challenges coming along with the trafficking and the acute and pertinent threats to the global biodiversity they pose.

CEBioS also wants to congratulate Marc Peeters (Belgian National Focal Point - CBD) on his outstanding coordination of the event.