Report from a project conducted by The Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime (EWC), the ICCF Group and Legal Atlas
The International Alliance against Health Risks in Wildlife Trade will host an open webinar on 5 November when the project leads will present the results and outcomes of the project, including from the Regional Conference held in Angola in May 2025, where a joint statement was issued by the parliamentary caucuses emphasizing the importance of addressing wildlife-related zoonotic diseases through collaborative efforts. The discussion will also delve into using the reports to scale up the analyses to other jurisdictions.
Background
The Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime (EWC), the ICCF Group, and Legal Atlas conducted a two-year project titled “Preventing Future Zoonotic Pandemics: Strengthening National Legal Frameworks and International Cooperation”, funded by the GIZ through the International Alliance against Health Risks in Wildlife Trade.
The overarching goal of the project was to identify and address potential legal loopholes in the national legislation of three target countries (Angola, Botswana and Zambia) related to zoonotic disease prevention and control within the context of wildlife trade.
The project culminated with the release of five reports in July 2025, that aim to support national parliaments and governments in creating robust legal frameworks to significantly reduce the risk of pathogen spillover and the emergence of zoonotic diseases posed by wildlife trade.
Agenda
Welcome, Opening remarks & moderation
John E Scanlon AO: Chair – Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime
Introduction to the project
Susan Lylis: Executive Vice President – ICCF Group
Outcomes of the project and demo of Legal Atlas platform
James Wingard: Director – Legal Atlas
Perspectives from the target jurisdictions
Parliamentary caucus representative (Angola, Botswana or Zambia)
Next steps for future use of the project’s findings
Susan Lylis: Executive Vice President – ICCF Group
Closing remarks
Secretariat of the International Alliance against Health Risks in Wildlife Trade – GIZ
Speakers
John E Scanlon AO, Chair of the Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime: John E Scanlon AO is a seasoned leader in the fields of environment and sustainable development governance, law, and policy, with a unique range of experience gained across multiple continents, disciplines and organisations. He has served in senior positions in the private sector, with government, international organisations, the UN, and not-for-profit organizations, and as chair or member of many boards. After starting out in private legal practice, John held senior roles with the Department of Environment, Heritage and Aboriginal Affairs (Adelaide), Environment Protection Authority (Sydney), Murray Darling Basin Commission (Canberra), World Commission on Dams (Cape Town), International Union for the Conservation of Nature (Bonn), UN Environment Programme (Nairobi), and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Geneva), where he served as Secretary-General from 2010-2018. John’s current roles include serving as CEO of the Elephant Protection Initiative Foundation, Chair of the UK Government Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund, Chair of the Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime, Trustee with the Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, Commissioner on the Lancet Commission on Preventing Pandemics, Executive President of the International Council of Environmental Law, and President of Scanlon Advisory LLC. In 2019, John was awarded the prestigious Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to wildlife conservation and protection through roles with international organizations, and in 2023 he was awarded the distinguished Chinese Government Friendship Award.
Susan Lylis, Executive Vice President of ICCF Group: Susan Lylis serves as the Executive Vice President of the ICCF Group, overseeing global programs. In this role, Susan leads a team that supports parliamentary conservation caucuses across Africa and facilitates engagement between policymakers and governments, the private sector, multilateral institutions, and NGOs to achieve sustainable policy solutions. Susan is a co-founder of ICCF and previously served as Executive Director of the ICCF Conservation Council. Susan also serves on the steering group of the Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime, representing the ICCF Group as a founding member.
James Wingard, Director of Legal Atlas: James is an international legal and policy development specialist with 30+ years of experience in 100+ projects and consulting assignments analyzing legal frameworks and systems in developing countries, post-conflict, and conflict zones. As the Co-Founder and Legal Director at Legal Atlas, he jointly oversees the development of the legal intelligence platform, as well as the methods for comparative analytics and mapping of law and legal systems.