3 arrested attempting to trade an African Hawk-Eagle, Congo, 4 Dec 2023

A trafficker arrested with 7 elephant tusks, Congo, 3 Dec 2023

Smuggling of 40 primates stopped, Togo, 2 Dec 2023

A trafficker arrested with 2 elephant tusks, Gabon, 29 Nov 2023

2 traffickers arrested with 2 tusks and a half, Togo, 18 Oct 2023

The EAGLE Network (Eco Activists for Governance and Law Enforcement) is leading the fight against wildlife crime with more than 2,000 significant wildlife traffickers jailed to date, fighting corruption to break complicity and ensure justice.

EAGLE developed a model of working with governments on Investigations, Arrest operations, Legal follow up and Media activities to get the law applied.

A large part of the work of EAGLE’s activists is in fighting corruption - we detect corruption in 85% of our arrest operations, and in 80% of our cases in court. We are not just detecting corruption, our role is to fight these corruption attempts. The approach received good backing from governments wishing to fight corruption within its services.

The model of EAGLE started in Cameroon and is now replicated in eight countries that form a network, and shifted countries from zero wild life prosecutions to a rate of one major trafficker arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned per week.

The model of EAGLE and its innovation in the fight against corruption and its integration into conservation has landed it 7 international awards to date.

The over-arching objective of the EAGLE Network is: To developing civic activism and collaborate with governments and civil society to improve the application of national and international environmental legislation through a program of activities: investigations, arrests, prosecutions and publicity. Through this, EAGLE aims to generate a strong deterrent against the illegal trade in wildlife, timber and related criminal activities, including corruption.

InvestigationsInvestigations
To investigate and infiltrate criminal networks, identifying major wildlife traffickers and obtaining the required evidence against them
Arrest OperationsArrest Operations
to bring about the arrests of major wildlife traffickers at a rate of one per week per country
Legal Follow-upLegal Follow-up
to ensure the prosecution of significant wildlife traffickers, including the conviction and serving of deterring sentences.
Media ExposureMedia Exposure
to create deterrent by raising public awareness of the increased enforcement of wildlife laws and the risks and penalties for wildlife criminals
DeterrentDeterrent
The media channels inform the public that the law has been actively enforced, thereby providing public education on the change in enforcement increasing the deterrent and criminalizing the illegal trade in endangered wildlife.