14 DAY TRIAL // Prince Charles and Prince William have had a rather busy weekend. This past Saturday, the Duke of Cambridge and the Prince of Wales both met with representatives of United for Wildlife, and talked about the need to protect biodiversity.
For those unaware, United for Wildlife is basically a partnership of seven different conservation organizations and the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.
Prince William and Prince Charles also had a chat with specialists working with TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade-monitoring network. They introduced the two Princes to the findings of a new report concerning how the illegal wildlife trade affects biodiversity.
Besides, they talked to folks working with the Zoological Society of London, who told them all about how technologies such as drones, sensors, remote cameras can help park rangers protect animals and keep poachers from slaughtering them.
When asked to share his opinion about United for Wildlife and comment on the importance of this partnership, Prince Charles pointed out that, the way he saw things, this collaboration must focus on helping NGOs looking to save animals and on curbing the demand of rhino horns, elephant tusks and other animal body parts.
“One of the most important things is helping the NGOs who struggle away, particularly organizations like TRAFFIC and Wild Aid and the World Wildlife Fund, of which I’m president in the UK. They’re doing a fantastic job but they’re up against a huge series of obstacles,” he said, as cited by EcoWatch.
Furthermore, “The most important thing to remember, I think, is that you have to reduce consumption of illegal wildlife parts, whether it’s ivory, or rhino horn, Tiger parts, or whatever from various endangered species.”
Prince William, on the other hand, hopes that United for Wildlife will soon snowball into a global movement against the illegal wildlife trade, and that the partnership will eventually reach its goal of ending poaching and animal trafficking.
“[The goal is to] get them in one room to focus their energy and their commitment to one cause – particularly obviously this illegal wildlife trade at the moment is such a big issue. The idea was that United for Wildlife can progress and we can really start the ball rolling and the momentum and really try and change and tackle this issue,” Prince William explained.
This coming February, high officials from several countries worldwide are to meet in the UK and roll out a plan to tackle the illegal wildlife trade on a global scale. Prince Charles and Prince William are expected to be present at this meeting, and help establish new goals for the United for Wildlife partnership.