OUESSO, Republic of Congo – May 28, 2026 – The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), through its Counter Wildlife Trafficking (CWT) program, organized a workshop in Ouesso on May 27–28, 2026, focused on raising awareness and sharing experiences related to wildlife crime.
Over the course of two days, public administrations, judicial authorities, defense and security forces, conservation organizations, and civil society representatives came together to strengthen cooperation among actors involved in combating wildlife trafficking.
Faced with increasing pressure on biodiversity across the Congo Basin, the workshop aimed to foster dialogue, share field experiences, and improve coordination in addressing a form of crime that now extends far beyond environmental concerns.
In northern Congo, where communities heavily depend on forest resources for their livelihoods, it remains essential to distinguish subsistence hunting conducted in compliance with regulations from wildlife crime. Wildlife crime includes activities such as poaching protected species, trafficking wildlife or wildlife products, and organized criminal networks supplying illicit national and international markets.
“Wildlife crime is a concerning issue, just like other forms of organized crime such as drug trafficking, and represents a real threat on a global scale,” said Amour OMBI, CWT Coordinator at WCS Congo, emphasizing that wildlife crime directly impacts global biodiversity while generating significant illicit revenues.
Throughout the discussions, participants addressed several key topics, including wildlife crime challenges in Congo, the legal framework governing wildlife offenses, challenges faced in anti-poaching efforts, and the connections between environmental crime, ecological loss, and financial crime.
During his presentation on the links between wildlife crime, ecological loss, and anti-money laundering efforts, Igor Boris Ossette, Public Prosecutor at the Ouesso High Court, emphasized that wildlife crime forms part of a broader criminal system in which illicit profits, ecosystem destruction, and illegal financial networks mutually reinforce one another. He added that fighting wildlife crime, ecological destruction, and money laundering means addressing different dimensions of the same underlying problem.
This collaborative approach lies at the heart of WCS’s Counter Wildlife Trafficking (CWT) program, which supports Congolese authorities in preventing, detecting, and prosecuting wildlife trafficking through intelligence gathering, capacity strengthening, and institutional partnerships.
The results achieved demonstrate the importance of this cooperation. In 2025, the CWT team issued 27 intelligence-based alerts, strengthening surveillance, detection, and enforcement capacities related to wildlife crime.
Joint efforts by Congolese authorities and their partners have also led to several major judicial successes. Among them is the landmark conviction handed down in 2019 against Mobanza Mobembo Gérard, alias “Guyvanho,” who received a 30-year prison sentence for attempted murder of forest rangers, trafficking ivory from poached elephants, possession of military weapons, and other charges. This case remains one of the clearest examples demonstrating that wildlife crime constitutes a form of organized crime that can result in exemplary prosecutions.
At the end of the workshop, participants formulated several recommendations aimed at further strengthening the fight against wildlife crime. These included improving information sharing between institutions, enhancing operational coordination among stakeholders, continuing awareness efforts, strengthening technical capacities, and improving enforcement of existing legal frameworks.
Through this initiative, WCS reaffirms its commitment alongside the Government of the Republic of Congo and its partners to sustainably strengthen biodiversity protection across the Congo Basin and combat the networks threatening wildlife.