The illegal poaching of rhinoceroses continues to escalate sharply and in 2014 poaching in South Africa – home to around three quarters of the world’s rhinoceroses – reached an alarming high with 1,215 rhinoceroses killed illegally, compared to 13 in 2007. Ministers and high-level representatives from the Czech Republic, Mozambique, South Africa and Viet Nam, together with observers from the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment, China and the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC), convened in Geneva, Switzerland, on 14 February 2015 at the CITES Ministerial Dialogue for key States concerned with the illegal trade in rhinoceros horn to try to focus on how to enhance international collaboration to combat these serious crimes.

The CITES Ministerial dialogue followed a two-day Senior Officials meeting at which national Customs, police and wildlife authorities worked with experts from ICCWC partner organizations to prepare recommendations on well-targeted interventions and specific areas of cooperation (ATTACHED). The Ministerial dialogue provided Ministers and high-level delegates with an opportunity to discuss the 19 short- and medium-term actions recommended by the Senior Officials meeting, to share their national experiences with combating rhinoceros-related crimes and to reflect on the remaining challenges and highest priorities for enhanced cooperation