On Tuesday, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released a report titled 'The Environment Crime Crisis' revealing about how illicit trade in wildlife fuels wars.

As per the report, illegal trade in wildlife and timber is worth US$213 billion every year on global level. The money is used to fund militia and terrorist groups. The report presented at the United Nations Environment Assembly revealed wildlife trafficking of both dead and live animal and plants could be worth US$23 billion per year.

On annual basis, around 25,000 elephants are poached in Africa. African ivory may be worth US$ 188 million in Asia. The report encloses shocking findings, including around 220,000 great apes have been lost from wildlife from 2005 to 2011. Out of these, major share was of chimpanzees.

The report is based on the assessments of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, UNEP, INTERPOL and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. When it comes to illegal felling of high-breed species like mahogany, timber for furniture, wood for pulp and paper and charcoal was around $100 billion annually.

As much as 86% of illegal wood making a way to the European Union and the U.S comes in the form of paper, pulp and wood chips. On the other hand, 90% of the wood used in Africa is for the purpose of fuel and charcoal.

The report has clearly mentioned that illegal wildlife and wood trade contributes a significant amount to finance crime and terrorist organizations. To cite a few examples, ivory forms to be the main source of income for the Lord's Resistance Army that operates in the border triangle of South Sedan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic (CAR).

UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said the increasing rate of environmental crime certainly demands for an action that should be based on initiatives like the CITES COP in Bangkok and the Botswana Elephant Summit.