Today's episode features Kelly Dent of World Animal Protection talking about ending the global wildlife trade.

The global trade in wildlife is worth hundreds of billions of dollars annually and includes both the legal and illegal trade in animals. While the Convention on International Trade in Endangered species of Wild Fauna and Flora boasts a membership of 183 countries, many argue it is insufficient, unsustainable and ineffective to protect vulnerable, endangered and critically endangered species. The system is full of loopholes which allow trade in wildlife to continue unchecked, with very little ability to differentiate between legal and illegal trade.

Calls to end the global wildlife trade have been growing through this pandemic, not only due to the likelihood that COVID-19 is a zoonotic pathogen, meaning it comes from animals, but also due to the sheer cost of the pandemic to human life and economy. As the population grows, pressure on wildlife and wild places also grows, meaning more interaction between both and more likelihood of animal / human conflict and disease transmission.

I invited Kelly Dent to chat about why we need a blanket ban on the trade in wildlife. Kelly is the Director of External Engagement with World Animal Protection and a lifelong activist and has 25 years experience lobbying and campaigning on climate change, poverty, corporate accountability, trade, labour and human rights around the world.

Kelly is reading 'Such a Fun Age' by Kiley Reid; 'Anna Karenina' by Leo Tolstoy; 'Why we love dogs, eat pigs and wear cows' by Melanie Joy; 'Me and White Supremacy' by Layla F Saad.

Kelly is listening to 7AM; 'Nice White Parents' New York Times; 'Debutante: Race, Resistance and Girl Power' by Nakkiah Lui & Miranda Tapsell; Rabbit Hole, New York Times.