Environmental crimes still growing

Environmental crimes are still showing signs of growing despite the number of new laws designed to put an end to shameful but profitable activities like rainforest logging, the trade in endangered animal skins and ivory and smuggling canisters of banned gas refrigerants. According to latest report issued by Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) this is extremely profitable business that earns more than $10bn a year, and operates on international level.

Many well organized international gangs are driven by high profits up to 700%, and the EIA believes that a network of environmental crime rings is thriving in the developing world. Laws and control are simply not adequate as even the ivory trade hasn't been stopped despite the almost 20 years old international ban (1989). As a proof there was this signed confession obtained by the Zambia Wildlife Authority, where Benson Nkunika admits poaching 38 elephants for their ivory using guns like AK-47 on the orders of an area warden in South Luangwa, the country's most famous national park.

Many elephants are still being ruthlessly killed because of valuable ivory despite the international ban on ivory trade.

Environmental crime is sort of a "silent crime";these crimes very often get unnoticed by many people, and even when they get noticed people tend to give these crimes very little attention as these crimes do not look big enough in their eyes. This situation suits environment criminals very well, and they are pulling great profit from destroying nature, while majority remains ignorant. And in the meantime environment crimes keeps on growing in many different ways, involving gangs that operate on global level. After all there is this huge profit that is more than enough to environment criminals to continue with their crimes.

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