Heather Sohl's latest posts

Sometimes when people think policy, they think boring – talking about document wording, and who’s saying what on which issues. For me it’s exciting – there’s a rush when a delegate repeats on the floor what you’ve said in the lunch break – and highly important, because without the right policies in place you can’t [...]

It’s been an unusual CITES Conference of the Parties (CoP) so far. A big debate on secret voting earlier on delayed the main agenda, so we’ve only today gotten on to some of the higher profile agenda items we’re here to discuss. Elephant discussions began and a number of Parties, including the EU member states, [...]

Policy work can sometimes be disappointing. Hours of talking, ‘working the room’ (as my good friend and roommate here in Thailand likes to say) to meet delegates, and staying up late to work on the development of policy text – and the outcome can still go the wrong way. Not today though! Today was the [...]

Stay tuned for the latest updates from the CITES conference in Bangkok, Thailand. As things develop, we’ll update you with the latest news and blogs via Storify. [View the story "We want to give CITES teeth" on Storify]

Over two a day. That’s how many rhinos have been killed by poachers in South Africa this year. Their horns likely destined for illegal markets in Asia, mostly in Vietnam. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is often considered one of, if not the most effective international [...]

Large-scale organised criminal syndicates are more engaged in wildlife trafficking, seeing the money to be made. And their methods are getting more sophisticated – helicopters, GPS and tranquiliser darts are all being deployed in these criminal activities. So it’s essential that we ramp up our efforts and make greater use of technology to combat the threats to rhinos.

Today, we’ve got the latest update from rhino ranger Rotiken Dennis, ahead of ‘Flight of the Rhino’ – showing on Saturday at 8.30pm on BBC 2. But why is action needed urgently? We can go to great lengths to protect these amazing creatures – and indeed we do, as Drew described yesterday in his blog. [...]

Hope you enjoyed my last post about the amazing work of wildlife crime officers in the UK. But now they need your support. Wildlife crime officers are supported by the incredibly effective National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU), which was created in 2006. Based in Scotland, the unit gathers intelligence on wildlife crime, and provides analytical [...]

WWF works internationally to help protect species and their habitats, but my work on illegal wildlife trade also addresses what happens here in the UK and on our own borders. This brought me to the 24th National Wildlife Crime Conference in Hampshire a couple of weekends ago. It’s here that wildlife specialists from police, border [...]

Saturday 22 September is World Rhino Day. Yes we know, it seems like there are lots of official ‘days’ for all kinds of causes every year, but let me tell you why this one really deserves your urgent attention – this year of all years… Back in 2007, poachers killed 13 rhinos in South Africa. [...]