3019/2024/WEB ‘Fighting illegal flora trade’

The aim of this hands-on webinar is to provide an overview of illicit trade of protected plants facilitated by a clandestine network that thrives on exploiting natural resources for profit at the expense of biodiversity and local communities. This underground economy operates across borders, with organised crime syndicates leveraging loopholes in regulations and exploiting weak law enforcement to traffic rare and endangered plant species. The consequences extend beyond environmental degradation, impacting ecosystems, economies, and cultural heritage. Biodiversity loss due to plant poaching disrupts delicate ecological balances, leading to the potential collapse of entire ecosystems and the loss of invaluable genetic resources essential for future research and conservation efforts.

By the end of this webinar, the audience will be able to:

• outline latest patterns of illicit trade of protected cacti and orchids;
• describe intelligence collection and risk assessment practices;
• recognise cross-border investigation possibilities, opportunities, and limitations of related international law enforcement cooperation.

EMPACT training activity

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Combating new forms of organised crime requires more cooperation between police and gendarmes, customs officers, border guards, judges, and prosecutors. EU institutions, agencies and Member States work together to tackle organised and serious international crime through a permanent and key instrument: the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT).

CEPOL plays a crucial role in the EMPACT mechanism through the provision of specialised training and the identification of training needs within each common security threat. Every year, CEPOL provides a comprehensive training package for each common EU crime priority consisting of onsite, online and exchange training activities.

Check more of CEPOL's EMPACT training activities here.