Brazilian Network to Combat the Wild Animal Trafficking

Overview

Well known nationally and internationally for its actions in defense of the environment, RENCTAS is a non-profit organization, founded in 1999, which mission is to fight against the wild animals trafficking in order to contribute to the preservation of Brazilian biodiversity. Among the many awards received by the institution, the most remarkable is certainly UNEP-Sasakawa Prize, awarded in November 2003 by UN and considered the most important and prestigious environmental distinction in the world.

Mission

To fight the illegal trade of wild animals in order to contribute with the preservation of biodiversity.

Program

Environmental education – aims to increase awareness of the environmental, economic and social consequences of the illegal wildlife trade and urge society to denounce this crime. Actions include national and international environmental education campaigns; campaigns and expositions in Brazilian airports; documentaries and publicity films.

RENCTAS also promotes public policies and supports governmental environment agencies, working in collaboration with Brazilian government and parliament to influence new laws and the creation of a new policy for conservation of biodiversity. Through this program, we train and support environmental agents of the government and pass on accusations and other information to the enforcement and environmental control agencies. Actions include dissemination of reports on the wildlife illegal trade; workshops to train and support environmental agents; and creation of a database on wild animal trafficking in Brazil.

Conservation of Biodiversity – Created to support research projects and the protection of wild fauna. Actions include: Union for the Atlantic Forest Fauna; transportation of wild animals rescued from traffic; Fund for Protection of Tropical Biodiversity.

Impact

In 7 years of existence, RENCTAS, through partnerships with the government, the private sector and with the support of volunteers from all over the country, has supported more than 5,000 environmental agents, has directly benefited more than 300,000 persons that have participated in the events promoted by the institution and indirectly around 20,000,000 persons, that were educated through our environmental education campaigns in schools, universities, NGOs and environmental agencies. In addition to these numbers, we can also count the more than 500,000 Internet users of all around the world that have visited our website in these years.

Countries of Operation

Brazil