TRAFFIC is the leading non-governmental organization working globally on trade in wild animals and plants in the context of both biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.

TRAFFIC International is a charity and limited company registered in the UK. TRAFFIC’s head office, based in Cambridge UK, provides worldwide leadership, coordination, cross-regional and corporate functions. TRAFFIC’s local engagement is managed through programme offices operating under the auspices of the UK charity, with staff based in a hub office and at other strategic locations where necessary. Programme offices operate within a geographic area of responsibility focused on one or multiple countries where TRAFFIC aims to help deliver priority programme outcomes. TRAFFIC works in strategic alliance with IUCN and WWF on wildlife trade issues.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

Conservation crimes include wildlife trafficking, illegal logging and associated trade (ILAT), crimes associated with illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and the illegal extraction of and illegal trade in gold and other minerals, including precious metals and gemstones. Globally, conservation crimes generate hundreds of billions of dollars for transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) every year, while robbing governments and local communities of their natural resource bases. Trafficking in these resources often occurs alongside other illegal activities such as document forgery, labour and human rights abuses (including violence against environmental defenders), tax evasion, and funding armed groups. The project aims to identify, analyse, and map the illicit networks associated with conservation crimes and understand the links, where they may exist, between the different trafficking networks associated with conservation crimes in Indonesia, Vietnam, Cameroon and Brazil. The analysis will also draw comparisons across these countries. In doing so, the project will assist the target countries to combat conservation crimes and stop the illegal extraction and trade in the affected natural resources, thereby shifting illicit revenue streams away from criminal actors and directing benefits toward governments and communities. It will map the various illicit supply networks to identify their points of convergence where actions can most effectively combat a range of conservation crimes. Expected results include:
• Improved knowledge and capacity to identify convergence of conservation crimes in the four target countries.
• Improved partner and stakeholder knowledge of convergence among conservation crimes and techniques for monitoring and analyzing such data, including across regions.

CHARACTERISTIC DUTIES

The Research and Data Officer has a primary objective of supporting TRAFFIC’s research and analysis to enhance wildlife trade law enforcement. The Officer will be responsible for the collection, input, interpretation and analysis of wildlife trade information, ensuring that this is recorded in an accurate and consistent manner into TRAFFIC’s WiTIS database. Such data is the basis to enable the production of informative analytical digests to support effective law enforcement efforts.

Regular and proactive research will be required to ensure all information being reported is verified (where possible) and captured centrally. Information is to be researched as much as possible to ascertain the full circumstances of the situation. The Officer is also required to conduct and support analytical research, and identify emerging issues and opportunities to enable more effective support to law enforcement agencies to tackle wildlife crime.

SPECIFIC DUTIES

Research
• Design, plan and carry out physical and online market surveys to acquire information about illegal wildlife trade and convergence with other transnational organized issues, illegal logging and associated trade (ILAT), crimes associated with illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and the illegal extraction of and illegal trade in gold and other minerals
• Develop a plan/protocol, budget, questionnaires for online and physical market surveys on the four areas of crime in consultation with Project Coordinator and Office Director
• Enter data in excel (for transport into WITiS)
• Regularly reports on progress of surveys to the Project Coordinator and Office Director
• Undertake preliminary analysis of the data
• Produce technical report of surveys data
• Work closely with relevant the TRAFFIC teams and represents TRAFFIC at relevant events
• Carry out activities and maintain regular liaison across the project sub-awardees and any other external partners in accordance with the workplan.
• Undertakes other tasks relevant to the project as assigned.

Data Management
• Provide technical guidance and support for the overall OES project on crime convergence, including collecting and compiling, verifying media stories in relation to incidents of poaching/collecting, seizures, arrests and investigations in Viet Nam for input into the excel sheet (in both Vietnamese and English-language news)
• Verify and import data into WITiS
• Collect, verify, input and report to enforcement agencies information received, where possible
• Enable the consistent monitoring of information, research and follow up to track progress of investigations
• Further research online identifying emerging modus operandi, locations of concerns, and arrests of groups / organised crime groups in relation to any type of illegal wildlife trade and convergent crimes in Viet Nam and entered onto the database. This will enable associations and the identification of cross overs with other crime types
• All information input onto to WITiS is to be accurately geocoded to enable mapping exercises at a later stage
• Liaise with TRAFFIC Database Manager for security management, database administration and other technical support regarding Vietnam Office data.

SUPERVISION - Supervises staff and consultants as determined by the line manager