A/RES/69/314. Resolution of the United Nations General Assembly, 2015

• Resolution Number: A/RES/69/314
• Year: 2015
• Session: 69th
• Issuer: General Assembly of the United Nation

United Nations A/RES/69/314

General Assembly Distr.: General

19 August 2015

Sixty-ninth session

Agenda item 13

15-12997 (E)

*1512997*

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Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 30 July 2015

[without reference to a Main Committee (A/69/L.80 and Add.1)]

69/314. Tackling illicit trafficking in wildlife

The General Assembly

,

Reaffirming

the intrinsic value of biological diversity and its various

contributions to sustainable development and human well-being, and recognizing

that wild fauna and flora in their many beautiful and varied forms are an

irreplaceable part of the natural systems of the Earth which must be protected for

this and the generations to come,

Concerned

, therefore, about the increasing scale of poaching and illegal trade

in wildlife and wildlife products and its adverse economic, social and environmental

impacts,

Expressing serious concern

over the steady rise in the level of rhinoceros

poaching and the alarmingly high levels of killings of elephants in Africa, which

threaten those species with local extinction and, in some cases, with global

extinction,

Recognizing

that illicit trafficking in wildlife contributes to damage to

ecosystems and rural livelihoods, including those based on ecotourism, undermines

good governance and the rule of law and, in some cases, threatens national stability

and requires enhanced regional cooperation and coordination in response,

Emphasizing

that the protection of wildlife must be part of a comprehensive

approach to achieving poverty eradication, food security, sustainable development,

including the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, economic

growth, social well-being and sustainable livelihoods,

Reaffirming

its call for

holistic and integrated approaches to sustainable

development that will guide humanity to live in harmony with nature and lead to

efforts to restore the health and integrity of the Earth’s ecosystem,

Expressing concern

that, in some cases, illicit trafficking in protected species

of wild fauna and flora is an increasingly sophisticated form of transnational

organized crime, recalling Economic and Social Council resolution 2012/19 of

26 July 2012, in which the Council recognized that organized crime had diversified

and represented a threat to health and safety, security, good governance and the

sustainable development of States, and therefore underlining the need to combat

such crimes by strengthening international cooperation, capacity-building, criminal

justice responses and law enforcement efforts,