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Officers receiving certificates at the Reducing Maritime Trafficking of Wildlife training, Arusha, June 2022, with programme banner and national flags

Completed

Reducing Maritime Trafficking of Wildlife

Mombasa · Arusha · Dar es Salaam · Entebbe · March 2022–October 2023

Completed

Wildlife & Environmental Crime · Mombasa · Arusha · Dar es Salaam · Entebbe

March 2022–October 2023

Seven courses, two phases, one investigative chain

Reducing Maritime Trafficking of Wildlife between Africa and Asia was a UNDP/GEF project (PIMS 5620), delivered between Q4 2021 and Q4 2023 within a programme framework that includes USAID Grant Activities 2.1.1 and 2.1.2 and the Global Wildlife Program.

Grace Farms Foundation, not ATI, was the project's formal Responsible Party. ATI evolved from Grace Farms Foundation Africa, and this page presents the programme as part of that institutional history, not as a contract ATI held directly.

The series ran in two phases: four courses building financial-investigation and asset-recovery capability, followed by three controlled-delivery practical exercises that put that capability to work in the field.

7
Courses delivered
94
Participant places
4
Countries

What was covered

Financial investigation and asset recovery; controlled delivery; surveillance and undercover strategy; operational planning; arrest, search, warrants, evidence and chain of custody; crime-scene examination and documentation; financial intelligence and linking multiple seizures; open-source intelligence; wildlife and timber forensics; DNA tracing and analysis; interview techniques; prosecutorial roles and international cooperation; and the convergence of wildlife trafficking, illegal logging, money laundering and other organised crime.

Delivery and technical partners

Participation in a course is not partnership with, or endorsement of, ATI or Grace Farms Foundation.
  • Grace Farms Foundation
  • United Nations Development Programme
  • Global Environment Facility
  • United States Agency for International Development
  • Global Wildlife Program
  • Lusaka Agreement Task Force
  • Homeland Security Investigations
  • University of Washington Center for Environmental Forensic Science
  • Okoa Maliasili
  • Wildlife Research and Training Institute, Kenya (including its Forensics and Genetics Laboratory)
  • Participating government and law-enforcement agencies in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Cambodia

Project journey

The seven courses

Phase I built financial-investigation capability; Phase II put it into practice through controlled-delivery exercises. Participation figures are the signed final technical report's own counts.
  1. 01

    Phase I: Basic Financial Investigation Training I, Mombasa, Kenya, 15–19 March 2022

    Included within the Phase I total of 43 participants from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda (19 agencies).

  2. 02

    Phase I: Advanced Financial Investigation Training I, Arusha, Tanzania, 30 May–4 June 2022

    Included within the Phase I total. Closed with a certificate ceremony at the Sheraton Four Points Hotel.

  3. 03

    Phase I: Basic Financial Investigation Training II, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 2–6 August 2022

    Included within the Phase I total.

  4. 04

    Phase I: Advanced Financial Investigation Training II, Entebbe, Uganda, 6–10 February 2023

    Closed Phase I. Combined Phase I total of 43 participants: Kenya 16, Tanzania 13, Uganda 14.

  5. 05

    Phase II: Controlled Delivery Practical Exercise I, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 1–6 May 2023

    17 participants: Kenya 6, Tanzania 6, Uganda 5.

  6. 06

    Phase II: Controlled Delivery Practical Exercise II, Mombasa, Kenya, 12–17 June 2023

    15 participants: Kenya 5, Tanzania 5, Uganda 5. Held at the Serena Beach Hotel.

  7. 07

    Phase II: Advanced Controlled Delivery Exercise, Arusha, Tanzania, 9–14 October 2023

    19 participants: Kenya 5, Tanzania 10, Cambodia 4. This was the series' only Cambodian cohort.

Combined Phase II total: 51 participant places across four countries, more than 20 agencies represented. Phase I + Phase II together: 94 participant places.

Gallery

Photographs

  • Certificate ceremony, Reducing Maritime Trafficking of Wildlife between Africa and Asia. 30 May–4 June 2022, Arusha, Tanzania. GEF and partner marks visible on programme banner.
  • Training session, Reducing Maritime Trafficking of Wildlife between Africa and Asia. Arusha, Tanzania, June 2022.
  • Session under the Lusaka Agreement Task Force banner reading “Agreement on Cooperative Enforcement Operations Directed at Illegal Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora.”
  • Training cohort, maritime wildlife trafficking programme. Arusha, Tanzania, June 2022.
  • Classroom module, maritime wildlife trafficking programme. Arusha, Tanzania, June 2022.
  • Practical field exercise during the controlled delivery course, Mombasa, Kenya, 12–17 June 2023.
  • Field exercise, controlled delivery course, Mombasa, Kenya, June 2023.
  • Training venue grounds, controlled delivery course, Mombasa, Kenya, June 2023.
  • Media doorstep interview during the controlled delivery course, Mombasa, Kenya, June 2023.
  • Training venue, controlled delivery course, Serena Beach Hotel, Mombasa, Kenya, June 2023.

Impact, measured carefully

The programme created practical, cross-border learning environments for investigators, prosecutors, customs officers, wildlife authorities, forestry officers, police and financial-intelligence personnel. Participant feedback showed strong perceived relevance: 111 of 119 responses said the learning fully met expectations, and 117 of 119 said it would be useful or applicable in their work.

The programme is not claimed to have caused any specific seizure or prosecution.

The programmeAll projects

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Source: Final Technical Report, Reducing Maritime Trafficking of Wildlife between Africa and Asia, signed 13 February 2024 (UNDP/GEF PIMS 5620; USAID Grant Activities 2.1.1 and 2.1.2).

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