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BirdLife South Africa and SANCCOB today secured a historic victory for South Africa's Critically Endangered African Penguin when the Pretoria High Court issued an order of court after a hard-won settlement agreement was reached by the two conservation NGOs with commercial sardine and anchovy purse-seine fishers (subsequently endorsed by the State). The order provides for the delineations of no-take zones for the commercial sardine and anchovy fishery around six key African Penguin breeding colonies that lie within coastal areas where this commercial fishery operates.

With environmental crime ranking as the world’s third largest illegal trade, INTERPOL has joined calls at the United for Wildlife (UfW) global summit for enhanced collective efforts against the criminal syndicates behind wildlife crime and its impact on communities and biodiversity. Poaching and trafficking undermine the rule of law and economic development.

South Africa, with its abundant wildlife, suffers from a scourge of poaching that has become a significant challenge in the country's national parks. In particular, the poaching of rhinos for their horns has increased dramatically since 2014, so SA National Parks (SANParks) sought out a system that could enable it to successfully counter this: one that could detect movement - specifically of people - in protected areas.

Gunshot technology ShotSpotter is being used to deter rhino poaching in Kruger National Park, helping authorities reduce unsanctioned killings by 60% inside the park’s Intensified Protection Zone (IPZ). South Africa, which holds nearly 80% of the world's rhinos, has been the country hit hardest by poaching criminals, with more than 1 000 rhinos killed each year between 2013 and 2017. Kruger is a critical poaching area.