Wildlife exploitation (legal but unsustainable, and illegal harvesting) is now regarded as the second greatest threat to global biodiversity and its benefits to humans. Due to Hong Kong’s geographic location, its free trade status, and historical trade networks, the territory is one of the world’s largest trading hubs and has become a global wildlife trade epicentre. Between 2013 and 2022, Hong Kong authorities made around 4,400 seizures of illegally traded wildlife, amounting to ~2,800 metric tonnes valued at HKD1.2 billion.

Much of the work being driven to combat wildlife crime and unsustainable legal trade is conducted across a variety of sectors and disciplines. Our two-day expert-driven conference aims to bridge this gap between disciplines and progresses the field further towards finding interdisciplinary solutions for these multidisciplinary problems. Through encouraging communication and collaborative action among different sectors and fields of research, we aim to drive positive change for this regional and global challenge.