Qatar Airways extends USAID ROUTES partnership to combat wildlife trafficking

Qatar Airways has extended its participation in the USAID ROUTES (Reducing Opportunities for Unlawful Transport of Endangered Species) Partnership, reinforcing its commitment to combat illegal trafficking of wildlife and its products.

Qatar Airways, a founding member of the United for Wildlife Transport Taskforce, signed the historic Buckingham Palace Declaration on 2016, aimed at taking real steps to shut down the routes exploited by traffickers of the illegal wildlife trade, to move their products. Subsequently in May 2017, the airline went on to sign the first Memorandum of Understanding with the ROUTES Partnership. In May 2019, Qatar Airways became the world’s first airline to achieve certification to the Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) Assessment. The IWT Assessment certification confirms that Qatar Airways has procedures, staff training and reporting protocols in place that make the smuggling of illegal wildlife products more challenging.

The Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) Assessment was developed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), with the support of ROUTES, as part of IEnvA - IATA’s environmental management and evaluation system for airlines. Compliance with the IWT IEnvA Standards and Recommended Practices (ESARPs) enables airline signatories to the United for Wildlife Buckingham Palace Declaration to demonstrate that they have implemented the relevant Commitments within the Declaration.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Akbar Al Baker, said: “The illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade threatens our global biodiversity, and poses a risk to health and safety, particularly in marginalised communities. We are taking measures to disrupt this illicit trade in order to conserve biodiversity and safeguard our delicate ecosystems. We remain committed with other aviation industry leaders to emphasise our zero-tolerance policy towards illegal trafficking of wildlife and its products, and we join the ROUTES Partnership in saying – ‘It Doesn’t Fly With Us’. We will continue to work with our stakeholders to raise awareness and improve detection of illegal wildlife activities to protect these creatures that we value.”