Nationwide law enforcement impact on the pet bird trade in China

Conservation enforcement is a direct strategy to combat illegal wildlife trade in open markets. Yet, its large-scale effectiveness has not been widely assessed due to the lack of extensive market data. Between August 2016 and June 2017, a national coordinated enforcement campaign led by the leading...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2024-06, Vol.121 (25), p.e2321479121
Main Authors: Liang, Zhijian, Hu, Sifan, Zhong, Jia, Wei, Qian, Ruan, Xiangdong, Zhang, Li, Lee, Tien Ming, Liu, Yang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Animals, Wild
Biological Sciences
Bird populations
Bird watching
Birds
China
Commerce - legislation & jurisprudence
Conservation of Natural Resources - legislation & jurisprudence
Indigenous animals
Law Enforcement
Market surveys
Migratory birds
Pets
Protected species
Songbirds
Surveys
Wildlife conservation
Wildlife trade
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Summary:Conservation enforcement is a direct strategy to combat illegal wildlife trade in open markets. Yet, its large-scale effectiveness has not been widely assessed due to the lack of extensive market data. Between August 2016 and June 2017, a national coordinated enforcement campaign led by the leading Chinese authority to combat illegal migratory bird trade coincided with the largest-ever pet bird market survey across China by voluntary birdwatchers before and after the enforcement, which served as a unique natural experiment. Across 73 markets from 22 Chinese provinces, the dataset contains 140,723 birds of 346 species from 48 families and recorded a drastic decline in bird abundance traded after enforcement. Notably, species protected under China's Wildlife Protection Law declined significantly, while commercially bred species increased, although responses to enforcement were spatially heterogeneous. Our model showed that the national protection level was the best predictor for the trend of traded species, even after accounting for confounding factors such as regional baseline enforcement pressure and wild native bird populations. However, the widely traded native songbirds were not offered adequate national protection. Future policies should consider the pet bird trade patterns, target key areas of trade, and develop a more systematic market survey design to monitor trade.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.2321479121