The Rise of Environmental Crime: A Growing Threat to Natural Resources, Peace, Development and Security

rounded up to 10% for ease of calculation, giving a loss of government revenue of USD 9–26 billion. Impacts on environment and ecosystems from environmental crimes An ecosystem is a dynamic complex of plant, animal and microorganism communities and the non-living environment interacting as a functional unit. 22 Ecosystems provide a range of services and provide the very foundations of our economy, human health, livelihoods and well-being. 23-25 They can include

clean air, water supply, extreme weather mitigation and storm protection, food security and pollination, just to mention a few. 26-28 An assessment of the environmental impacts of the illegal trade in Wildlife has just been launched (June 2016) by UNEP, however, no assessment currently exists of the environ- mental impacts of the wider range of environmental crimes and their full implications for environmental sustainability and development goals. This is urgently needed. Information is available on a number of individual parts of the environmental crimes, though a consolidated overview is needed.

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