OORGANISATIONAL BACKGROUND

TRAFFIC is the leading non-governmental organization working globally on trade in wild animals and plants in the context of both biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.

TRAFFIC International is a charity and limited company registered in the UK. TRAFFIC’s head office, based in Cambridge UK, provides worldwide leadership, coordination, cross-regional and corporate functions. TRAFFIC’s local engagement is managed through programme offices operating under the auspices of the UK charity, with staff based in a hub office and at other strategic locations where necessary. Programme offices operate within a geographic area of responsibility focused on one or multiple countries where TRAFFIC aims to help deliver priority programme outcomes. TRAFFIC works in strategic alliance with IUCN and WWF on wildlife trade issues.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

TRAFFIC has been mandated by CITES Resolutions to deliver analyses for the global monitoring of illegal trade in elephant and rhino specimens to the Parties. For elephants, the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) is managed and operated by TRAFFIC on behalf of the CITES Parties. The core ETIS data are seizures of illegal ivory and other elephant products, and the database holds over 30,000 records of seizures since 1989. The aims of ETIS are to measure and record trends in illegal ivory trade over time, and to assess to what extent observed trends are related to measures taken under the auspices of CITES. For rhinos, TRAFFIC, in collaboration with the IUCN, engages with range and consumer States to collect information, analyse it, and produce reports on trends on associated with rhinoceros poaching and horn trafficking. TRAFFIC produces reports on trade in elephants and rhinoceros specimens to the CITES Standing Committee and Conference of the Parties as appropriate and including a peer-review process with specialised Technical Advisory Groups and the CITES Secretariat.

The salary range for this position is between £35,492 to £40,000 depending on skills and experience.

CHARACTERISTIC DUTIES

Conduct statistical analyses related to trade in wildlife, primarily in elephants and rhinos, as part of mandated work to deliver reports to CITES Parties for the global monitoring of illegal trade. Assist as needed in providing oversight and other support for data collection and analysis including the development of online portal functionalities for data collection and interactive reporting tools to display trade route information temporally and spatially. Assist in the development of new data collection standards and analysis methodologies and the publication of analysis code and results as part of technical reports or scientific publications.

SPECIFIC DUTIES

• Conduct trend analyses of Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) and rhino seizure data in support of trend reporting. Compose relevant text, figures and maps for accompanying reports for integration into CITES documents.
• Conduct analyses to advance the development of new methodologies to analyse ETIS and rhino data including exploration of additional covariates and alternative modelling frameworks such as network modelling to identify countries most affected by illegal trade.
• Review and streamline current R code to improve on current data management, analyses, and generating outputs. Document any new code on GitHub or other documentation as appropriate.
• Help develop interactive reporting tools on the online portal for ETIS (ETIS Online) including spatial mapping of trade routes and display of modelling results.
• Assist in the development of data collection and analyses from open-sources to infer trends in trade activities for elephant and rhino and other species.
• Attendance at CITES or other relevant meetings as required.

SUPERVISION

This role may require the management of consultants’ contracts or volunteer supervision.