Tackling supply and demand in the rhino horn trade

The majority of responses to the growing illegal trade in rhino horn aim to curb supply through frontline enforcement and security in parks and reserves in Southern Africa, particularly South Africa. They include recent advances in legalising the trade. Far less effort has been made to involve local communities in anti-poaching efforts or reduce the appetite for rhino horn in East Asia. This policy brief reviews available information on supply and demand in rhino horn markets, analysing the main responses and their impacts. It advocates greater policy coherence in supply-side measures and more regional and international cooperation in demand-side campaigns.

About the authors

Ciara Aucoin joined the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in 2016 as a researcher in the African Futures and Innovation team in Pretoria. She is currently a senior research consultant with the ENACT project. Before joining the ISS, she was a senior researcher for the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) and formerly Africa programme associate for the Conflict Prevention and Peace Forum in New York.

Sumien Deetlefs has been a coder on the incident monitoring component of the ENACT Project at the ISS since June 2016. She recently completed her master’s degree in security studies at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.