The value of wildlife crime, comprising fauna and flora, and including logging, poaching and trafficking of a wide range of animals, amounts to between US$70 and US$213 billion a year, according to estimates of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and INTERPOL. Wildlife trafficking creates insecurity, fuelling conflicts and corruption. Together with poaching and illegal extraction, it deprives countries of their assets, weakens the rule of law and divides societies. Wildlife trafficking also destroys biodiversity and ecosystems, threatening the supply of food and freshwater and eroding livelihoods for millions of people in Africa.

Organised by the Government of the Republic of Congo and the African Union Commission (AUC), in partnership with UNEP and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Conference builds on the outcomes of the London and Kasane High Level Conferences on Illegal Wildlife Trade. It follows the 23rd African Union Summit which urged African nations to apply zero tolerance approaches, to take action to strengthen laws and policies, and to engage communities to combat illegal wildlife trafficking and related criminal activities.

The Conference will seek to create an Africa-wide strategy and associated action plan on the illegal trade in wild fauna and flora, to be considered at the next AU Summit.