20 Nov Help us to track wildlife crime
Our new #WildEye project aims to expose wildlife smuggling networks and how they work across the greater European continent
The #WildEye tool will be launched early next year
Oxpeckers recently joined forces with the Internews Earth Journalism Network on a new project that will monitor and investigate the illegal wildlife trade in Europe.
Our new #WildEye project aims to expose wildlife smuggling networks and how they work across the greater European continent, and to increase insights into the links that exist on a global scale.
#WildEye is a unique open-source tool that maps seizures, arrests, prosecutions and convictions related to wildlife crime. Although both national and international law enforcement agencies already track these incidents, there is no one place where the data is made accessible to the public.
#WildEye aims to change this, while also providing journalists with data on which to base their investigations.
#WildEye is based on our Rhino Poachers Court Cases tool, which keeps tabs on rhino cases across South Africa since 2010. The original data set driving this tool was released by the police ministry and comprised consolidated data on poaching-related arrests, the names of suspects, charges laid against them, case numbers and the status of the cases.
Oxpeckers believes that charting legal action over the years and tracking it to its conclusion in the justice system helps provide the public, NGOs and other enforcement agencies with public-interest data that is freely accessible and searchable.
We also provide journalists with data that gives context and information on which to base related investigations. We will be working with journalists throughout Europe who are conducting investigations of their own as a result of our efforts.
The #WildEye tool will be launched early next year and as we continue to build and develop it, we need assistance in populating the data set that drives the platform.
We’re looking for any guidance, tips and contact information that could be helpful to our data-collection efforts. This can be from other journalists, researchers, conservationists, NGOs, government, students, or just anyone who’s interested in finding out more about wildlife crime.
If you can assist in any way, please email Roxanne Joseph, one of our Associate journalists and the project’s data manager, at roxjos@gmail.com.