Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA), American Society for Travel Agents (ASTA), and Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), announced today they will be working to help travelers recognize and avoid purchasing the illegal wildlife products that are decimating global populations of elephants, rhinos, tortoises and other endangered species.
These actions support the mission of the U.S. Wildlife Trafficking Alliance (the Alliance), a public-private partnership in which corporate and non-profit member organizations, including WildAid and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), work together with governmental entities to raise awareness about the dangers of wildlife trafficking and to stop consumer demand for endangered species products. Together, the Associations serve more than 25 million travelers annually.
The announcement comes as the Alliance releases its “Know Before You Go / Ask Before You Buy” digital toolkit, which provides travel and tourism industry leaders with resources they can use to engage travelers in the fight to stop wildlife trafficking. The toolkit materials were developed through the Alliance coalition that includes travel companies, non-profit leaders WildAid, WWF, and TRAFFIC, Discovery Communications, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The toolkit includes educational pamphlets, public service announcements, and infographics, that highlight the importance of ending demand for illegal wildlife products with beautiful and powerful imagery.
As new members of the Alliance, CLIA and ASTA have made commitments to distribute wildlife trafficking educational material to its member companies, encourage members to adopt policies that support the Alliance’s mission, and lend the voice of their vast networks to speak on this critical issue. ATTA made similar commitments to the Alliance last spring. All three Associations have shared the toolkit with their member travel companies—a critical sector in the fight against wildlife trafficking—to educate travelers on how to avoid purchasing illegal wildlife products and do their part to stop the demand that fuels poaching and threatens endangered species.
