great delight to see all of you here. And as I look out on this audience, I see many

familiar faces from the diplomatic community. And I especially thank each and every one

of you for being here on this important issue. Congressman Moran, thank you for joining us

today. I'd also like to welcome Deputy Administrator Steinberg from USAID, Naoko Ishii of the Global

Environmental Facility. Thanks to Under Secretary Bob Hormats for his commitment to this issue,

along with Under Secretary Maria Otero and Under Secretary Tara Sonenshine and Assistant

Secretary Kerri-Ann Jones, and many others here in the State Department, and particularly

all of you from the conservation and wildlife community and the private sector who have

been involved in this issue for many years and have done extraordinary work. Unfortunately,

we now find ourselves with all of that positive effort that started 30, 40 years ago being

affected by changes that we have to address at every level of the international community.

Now, some of you might be wondering why a Secretary of State is keynoting an event about

wildlife trafficking and conservation, or why we are hosting this event at the State

Department in the first place. Well, I think it's because, as Bob Hormats has just pointed

out, and as the public service announcements reinforce, over the past few years wildlife

trafficking has become more organized, more lucrative, more widespread, and more dangerous

than ever before.

As the middle class grows, which we all welcome and support, in many nations items like ivory

or rhinoceros horn become symbols of wealth and social status. And so the demand for these

goods rises. By some estimates, the black market in wildlife is rivaled in size only

by trade in illegal arms and drugs. Today, ivory sells for nearly $1,000 per pound. Rhino

horns are literally worth their weight in gold, $30,000 per pound.

What's more, we are increasingly seeing wildlife trafficking has serious implications for the

security and prosperity of people around the world. Local populations that depend on wildlife,

either for tourism or sustenance, are finding it harder and harder to maintain their livelihoods.

Diseases are spreading to new corners of the globe through wildlife that is not properly

inspected at border crossings. Park rangers are being killed. And we have good reason

to believe that rebel militias are players in a worldwide ivory market worth millions

and millions of dollars a year.

So yes, I think many of us are here because protecting wildlife is a matter of protecting

our planet's natural beauty. We see it's a stewardship responsibility for us and this

generation and future generations to come. But it is also a national security issue,

a public health issue, and an economic security issue that is critical to each and every country

represented here.

We all, unfortunately, contribute to the continued demand for illegal animal goods. Wildlife

might be targeted and killed across Asia and Africa, but their furs, tusks, bones, and

horns are sold all over the world. Smuggled goods from poached animals find their way

to Europe, Australia, China, and the United States. I regret to say the United States

is the second-largest destination market for illegally trafficked wildlife in the world.

And that is something we are going to address.

Now, several conservation groups are here with us today, and we greatly appreciate their

invaluable work. But the truth is they cannot solve this problem alone. None of us can.

This is a global challenge that spans continents and crosses oceans, and we need to address

it with partnerships that are as robust and far-reaching as the criminal networks we seek

to dismantle.

Therefore, we need governments, civil society, businesses, scientists, and activists to come

together to educate people about the harms of wildlife trafficking. We need law enforcement

personnel to prevent poachers from preying on wildlife. We need trade experts to track

the movement of goods and help enforce existing trade laws. We need finance experts to study

and help undermine the black markets that deal in wildlife. And most importantly, perhaps,

we need to reach individuals, to convince them to make the right choices about the goods

they purchase.

Now, there's no quick fix, but by working closely, internationally, with all of these

partners, we can take important steps to protect wildlife in their environments and begin to

dry up the demand for trafficked goods. So with these goals in mind, the State Department

is pursuing a four-part strategy.

First, on the diplomatic front, we are working with leaders from around the world to develop

a global consensus on wildlife protection. I spoke with President Putin, Ambassador,

when we were together at the APEC summit in Vladivostok. He has been a staunch, vocal,

public supporter of Russian wildlife. And I think it's fair to say his personal efforts

over the last years have made the lives of tigers in Russia much safer. There's still

poaching, but at least there is a commitment from the highest level of the Russian Government

to protect the wildlife of Russia. In fact, when I was in Vladivostok, there were posters

everywhere with tigers on the pictures on the lampposts and walls and everywhere we

looked, reminding people that this was an important issue to Russia and the Russian

Government. And I worked - I had the great privilege of working with President Putin

and the other leaders there to make sure that the leaders' statement that was issued included,

for the first time ever, strong language on wildlife trafficking.

Now, Undersecretaries Bob Hormats and Maria Otero have met with African and Asian leaders

to discuss the immediate actions needed to thwart poachers. Next week, President Obama

and I will personally bring this message to our partners in ASEAN and the East Asia Summit

when we meet in Phnom Penh.

We are also pressing forward with efforts to protect marine life. And last week, we

joined forces with New Zealand to propose the world's largest marine protected area,

the Ross Sea region of Antarctica. And we hope to gain support from the international

community as this important proposal moves forward.

We're strengthening our ability to engage diplomatically on these and other scientific

issues. Building scientific partnerships is an important tool in addressing such global

challenges. That's why I'm pleased to announce our three new science envoys, Dr. Bernard

Amadei of the University of Colorado, the founder of Engineers Without Borders; Dr.

Susan Hockfield, the former president and currently faculty member of the Massachusetts

Institute of Technology; and renowned evolutionary biologist Dr. Barbara Schaal of Washington

University in St. Louis. Are these three scientists with us today? Are they? Okay. But I think

it's working to create a scientific consensus and very preeminent scientists from across

the world speaking out that is one of the important steps that we are urging partners

to join with us in doing.

Secondly, we are reaching beyond governments to enlist the support of people. As part of

this effort, Under Secretary Tara Sonenshine, our Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy,

is spearheading a global outreach campaign which we will launch December 4th on Wildlife

Conservation Day. Our embassies will use every tool at their disposal to raise awareness

about this issue, from honoring local activists, to spreading the word on Facebook and Twitter.

We want to make buying goods, products from trafficked wildlife, endangered species unacceptable,

socially unacceptable. We want friends to tell friends they don't want friends who ingest,

display, or otherwise use products that come from endangered species anywhere in the world.

Third, we're launching new initiatives to strengthen and expand enforcement areas. USAID

has already provided more than $24 million over the past five years on a range of programs

that combat wildlife crimes. Last year, they launched the ARREST program, which is establishing

regional centers of expertise and expanding training programs for law enforcement. We

really want to work with all of you, and we want both from countries that are victimized

by trafficking to countries where consumers are the end-buyers of such products.

Finally, this is a global issue, and it calls, therefore, for a concerted global response.

So I hope every government and organization here today will join the Coalition Against

Wildlife Trafficking. That is the global partnership for sharing information on poachers and illicit

traders. We'll also be convening meetings with traditional stakeholders like NGOs and

governments and with less traditional stakeholders like air and cruise line companies to discuss

new potential partnerships.

Some of the most successful initiatives we've seen so far are the regional wildlife enforcement

networks. These networks are critical to strengthening protection efforts and enhancing cooperation

among key countries. To build on these efforts, today I'm calling for the creation of a global

system of regional wildlife enforcement networks to take advantage of those networks that already

are operating and the lessons we have learned from them. The sooner we get this off the

ground, the better, and to that end, the State Department is pledging $100,000 to help get

this new global system up and running.

I want to mention one last step we're taking. Trafficking relies on porous borders, corrupt

officials, and strong networks of organized crime, all of which undermine our mutual security.

I'm asking the intelligence community to produce an assessment of the impact of large-scale

wildlife trafficking on our security interests so we can fully understand what we're up against.

When I was in Africa last summer, I was quite alarmed by the level of anxiety I heard from

leaders. It is one thing to be worried about the traditional poachers who come in and kill

and take a few animals, a few tusks, a few horns, or other animal parts. It's something

else when you've got helicopters, night vision goggles, automatic weapons, which pose a threat

to human life as well as wildlife. Local communities are becoming terrified. Local leaders are

telling their national leaders that they can lose control of large swaths of territory

to these criminal gangs. Where criminal gangs can come and go at their total discretion,

we know that begins to provide safe havens for other sorts of threats to people and governments.

So I think we have to look at this in a comprehensive, holistic way. And there's something for everybody.

If you love animals, if you want to see a more secure world, if you want our economy

not to be corrupted globally by this kind of illicit behavior, there is so much we can

do together. After all, the world's wildlife, both on land and in our waters, is such a

precious resource, but it is also a limited one. It cannot be manufactured. And once it's

gone, it cannot be replenished. And those who profit from it illegally are not just

undermining our borders and our economies. They are truly stealing from the next generation.

So we have to work together to stop them and ensure a sustainable future for our wildlife,

the people who live with them, and the people who appreciate them everywhere.

So let me thank you all for being here. I really appreciate the turnout, and it means

a great deal and the fact that so many ambassadors are here representing their countries - and

I particularly want to thank our colleagues, the Ambassador of Kenya, the Ambassador from

Indonesia, for taking a leading role in this effort. We want to hear your ideas. These

are our ideas, but we really are soliciting your ideas - what works, what can we do better,

how can we make a difference. Let's put the poachers out of business and build a more

secure and prosperous world for all of us, and particularly for children generations

to come.

Thank you, all. (Applause.)