Institutional Capacity of Custom Checkpoints: Implication for Assessing Wildlife Trafficking Monitoring Units Within Custom Organogram in Checkpoints of Western Tigray, Northwestern Ethiopia

Illicit wildlife trafficking is a complex, multidimensional challenge with far-reaching ecological and economic implication. The study was conducted from February-April, 2017 with the aim to assess the institutional capacity of custom checkpoints on illicit wildlife trafficking monitoring units within the organizational charts. The data were collected by preparing both open and close-ended questionnaire for interviews. Furthermore, the sampling was designed to take the individual checkpoint as a cluster and hence cluster sampling was used. Final sampling units from each cluster were taken using systematic sampling. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics to understand the nature of the data for institutional capacity of the checkpoints on illicit wildlife trafficking. All (100%) of the custom units responded that, there is no specialized security, canine and horse units which support the patrolling activities in the checkpoints. The law enforcement practices are not aligned with the intended institutional setups of the checkpoints. All (100%) of the enforcement units responded that, there is no prosecution, security research and analysis units to study the emerging trends of illicit wildlife trafficking and recommend logical intervention approaches. The majority (94.1%) of the custom units responded that, there is no wildlife investigation unit, which responds to wildlife crime. Almost a majority (88.2%) of the custom units responded that, there is no intelligence unit which gathers information intended to preempt illicit wildlife crimes. The information management system to halt illicit wildlife trafficking is not institutionally framed. The majority (94.1%) of the custom units responded that, there is no emergency management unit, to deal with urgent illicit wildlife trafficking situations. Almost a majority (88.2%) of the custom units responded that, there is no security data management unit for the conservation crime data organization. About (64.1%) of the custom units responded that, there is no wildlife trafficking patrol plan in the vicinity of the checkpoint administration. Almost half (58.8%) of the custom units responded that, there is no an anti poaching plan in the checkpoint administration. Furthermore, all (100%) of the custom units responded that, there are no sufficient vehicle number for patrolling and the inspection of illicit wildlife trafficking. The community empowerment program is not institutionally established within the checkpoints organizational charts. Almost a majority (94.1%) of the custom units responded that, there is no community scale education and empowerment program for the local people about illicit wildlife trafficking. Illicit wildlife trafficking is least targeted enforcement priority in custom checkpoints. Lack of transparency, monitoring and staff capacity are the enforcement challenges i the surveyed border checkpoints. The information obtained from this survey can be used to institutionally frame the checkpoints and address the underlying wildlife trafficking enforcement challenges at the border checkpoints of western Tigray.