WEBVTT - Uncovering a multi-million pound smuggling trade 0:00:04.500 --> 0:00:10.150 A bright January afternoon in 2014, the sunlight slants through 0:00:10.150 --> 0:00:13.389 the panels of the Princess of Wales Conservatory in the 0:00:13.389 --> 0:00:17.090 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Where even in the dead of 0:00:17.090 --> 0:00:24.410 winter, preparations are underway for the Annual Orchid Festival. 10 0:00:24.410 --> 0:00:29.070 climate controlled zones display a magnificent array of rare and 0:00:29.070 --> 0:00:35.159 remarkable plants from across the planet. As the staff busy 0:00:35.159 --> 0:00:39.229 themselves readying for the big event an apprentice is doing 0:00:39.229 --> 0:00:43.779 the rounds, checking the water levels in the ponds. Somewhere 0:00:43.780 --> 0:00:46.909 near the concrete bridge, he stops in his tracks, all 0:00:46.909 --> 0:00:50.190 around him is the hubbub of visitors and busy staff. 0:00:50.879 --> 0:00:54.540 But his focus is chained on one thing, a small 0:00:54.540 --> 0:00:59.450 hole in the abundant flora, the scraper fingers, almost visible 0:00:59.450 --> 0:01:04.060 in the mud. Holding his breath he leans in, but 0:01:04.060 --> 0:01:05.459 he already knows what's missing. 0:01:16.459 --> 0:01:20.340 When you find that someone has acted illegally, unlawfully and 0:01:20.340 --> 0:01:24.399 selfishly in stealing one element of that collection, particularly something 0:01:24.399 --> 0:01:27.679 as valuable as this plant, it's very disappointing. 0:01:28.410 --> 0:01:31.950 Missing from the mud was one of 24 specimens of 0:01:31.970 --> 0:01:36.670 Nymphaea thermarum, one of the world's most endangered species. The 0:01:36.670 --> 0:01:41.699 world's smallest and rarest waterlily. Its delicate white flowers are 0:01:41.699 --> 0:01:44.269 now extinct in the wild. And Kew is one of 0:01:44.270 --> 0:01:47.500 the few botanic gardens in the world to be guardian 0:01:47.500 --> 0:01:51.650 of this species, which had once lived in Rwandan hot springs. 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:55.700 The high price of these individual plants and the rarer 0:01:55.700 --> 0:01:59.150 they are, although there's a risk of being caught, there's 0:01:59.150 --> 0:02:03.450 very little prosecution and jail time. And the fines are 0:02:03.540 --> 0:02:07.939 minuscule compared to the prices that these items are actually 0:02:07.940 --> 0:02:09.300 sold at the end. 0:02:10.560 --> 0:02:14.010 I'm James Wong and I'm a botanist. In this series 0:02:14.070 --> 0:02:17.950 I'm unraveling the secrets of the world of plants and fungi, 0:02:19.139 --> 0:02:23.769 from one tiny waterlily to the pre- historic giants hidden 0:02:23.769 --> 0:02:28.489 in multi- million pound mansions. We'll find out about the criminal 0:02:28.489 --> 0:02:33.649 underworld that threatens to devastate entire species and the future of 0:02:33.650 --> 0:02:34.140 our planet. 0:02:35.340 --> 0:02:40.280 Wildlife trafficking has surged in recent years, generating billions in 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:45.480 illicit profits. Criminals are helping themselves to the environment's precious resources 0:02:45.700 --> 0:02:48.269 without a care for the cost to our planet. 0:02:48.269 --> 0:02:52.549 The scale of the internet is a real challenge for the 0:02:52.549 --> 0:02:57.230 monitoring and surveillance of wildlife crime. It's still important to 0:02:57.230 --> 0:03:00.439 involve human judgment in these decisions. 0:03:01.780 --> 0:03:06.760 You're listening to Unearthed: Mysteries from an unseen world, from 0:03:06.760 --> 0:03:15.639 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Kew's tropical nursery is a huge 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:21.730 partitioned glass house split into 21 different climatic zones. It's 0:03:21.730 --> 0:03:26.150 home to 10,000 plants, and it's the most diverse collection 0:03:26.179 --> 0:03:31.169 of cultivated plants on the planet. This is where a 0:03:31.169 --> 0:03:35.080 talented team, tends plants behind the scenes and where many 0:03:35.080 --> 0:03:39.450 waterlilies begin their Kew journey. It's from this oasis of 0:03:39.450 --> 0:03:42.890 life that the specimens visitors see in the gardens are 0:03:42.890 --> 0:03:46.860 often born. It was here that the ideal conditions for Nymphaea 0:03:47.170 --> 0:03:53.520 thermarum were decoded by Kew's botanical horticulturist, Carlos Magdalena. Known 0:03:53.520 --> 0:03:57.150 to some as the plant Messiah, due to his ability 0:03:57.150 --> 0:04:01.550 to coax plants back from the brink of extinction. Fast 0:04:01.550 --> 0:04:04.210 forward a few years and some of the rare waterlilies 0:04:04.270 --> 0:04:07.480 now extinct in the wild, run show at the Princess 0:04:07.480 --> 0:04:13.250 of Wales Conservatory. Richard Barley is Director of Horticulture Learning 0:04:13.250 --> 0:04:17.729 and Operations at Kew. He arrived in 2013 and it 0:04:17.729 --> 0:04:21.250 was not long after this, that the waterlily theft took place. 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:27.510 The story of the Rwandan waterlily is a really interesting 0:04:27.510 --> 0:04:32.089 one. It only grew in the natural habitat at one 0:04:32.089 --> 0:04:36.089 location in Rwanda on the edge of a thermal spring. 0:04:36.170 --> 0:04:39.330 Just in the sort of moist mud with a thin 0:04:39.330 --> 0:04:42.560 film of water. They send some seed across here to 0:04:42.560 --> 0:04:47.740 Kew. And I think that was in about 2008, 2009. And 0:04:47.740 --> 0:04:51.810 that's when one of our own horticulturist here, Carlos Magdalena 0:04:52.279 --> 0:04:54.950 did a number of trials with the seed that it 0:04:54.950 --> 0:04:58.750 germinated, it grew, it stayed alive. And then we were able 0:04:58.750 --> 0:05:01.880 to multiply the numbers of plants and ultimately finish up 0:05:02.070 --> 0:05:05.919 with a really good collection. So at least we'd preserve 0:05:05.919 --> 0:05:09.150 the material and the plant, which was by then extinct 0:05:09.150 --> 0:05:12.040 in the wild. It had disappeared, I think in about 0:05:12.050 --> 0:05:16.270 2008, but we still then had saved the plant from 0:05:16.719 --> 0:05:18.280 becoming extinct altogether. 0:05:18.500 --> 0:05:20.640 It really is so distinct, as soon as you look 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:23.200 at it. It's like, honey, I shrunk the kids kind 0:05:23.370 --> 0:05:25.609 of got the Ray gun and aim that at a waterlily. 0:05:25.610 --> 0:05:25.630 Yeah. 0:05:26.669 --> 0:05:29.050 And it doesn't grow with its parts floating on the 0:05:29.050 --> 0:05:30.890 surface of water. It just grows in mud. 0:05:31.190 --> 0:05:31.900 Yeah, that's right. 0:05:32.130 --> 0:05:36.049 What's it like when you've spent years, maybe even decades 0:05:36.050 --> 0:05:40.159 in some situations trying to conserve a particular species and 0:05:40.159 --> 0:05:42.070 then notice that, that has been stolen. 0:05:42.180 --> 0:05:45.240 Look, its always disappointing. I mean, I'm sure it'd be 0:05:45.240 --> 0:05:47.969 the same with anyone working with any valuable collection of 0:05:47.969 --> 0:05:50.760 anything at all. When you find that someone has acted 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:56.210 illegally unlawfully and selfishly in stealing one element of that 0:05:56.210 --> 0:05:58.939 collection, particularly something as valuable as this plant. 0:05:59.450 --> 0:06:01.479 Were you surprised when you found out it was missing? 0:06:01.650 --> 0:06:05.909 Yes, I was. Honestly, I think any plant theft surprises 0:06:05.909 --> 0:06:09.529 me because I inherently always think the best of people at 0:06:09.529 --> 0:06:13.440 large and don't expect something like that to happen. And 0:06:13.440 --> 0:06:16.749 also frankly, I was surprised because it was not right 0:06:16.750 --> 0:06:19.210 next to a pathway. You could just be walking along, 0:06:19.210 --> 0:06:22.339 bend down and scoop it up. It did require someone 0:06:22.339 --> 0:06:25.989 to traverse some fairly soft going and to get to 0:06:25.990 --> 0:06:28.719 the edge of a pond and get it and get 0:06:28.719 --> 0:06:33.419 it out and not be noticed doing that. These conservatories 0:06:33.419 --> 0:06:35.680 are not left empty during the day. They have people 0:06:35.680 --> 0:06:38.849 in them. As I said earlier, we need to tell 0:06:38.849 --> 0:06:43.260 the stories of why those plants are rare, because ultimately 0:06:43.260 --> 0:06:46.129 we want all our visitors and the wider community to 0:06:46.130 --> 0:06:51.049 understand the importance of looking after biodiversity around the world. 0:06:51.049 --> 0:06:53.070 We want them to know what the issues are. And 0:06:53.560 --> 0:06:57.740 if that means they make some sensible decisions about anything 0:06:57.839 --> 0:07:00.670 in their lives, then that's been a very positive outcome. 0:07:02.620 --> 0:07:07.369 This story is far from lighthearted or eccentric. In reality, 0:07:07.539 --> 0:07:11.179 a multi- million pound trade in plant trafficking is seeing 0:07:11.390 --> 0:07:15.360 rare species ripped from their natural habitats. Mules, employed to 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:19.460 break the law and species smuggled without regard to consequences 0:07:19.460 --> 0:07:24.530 for disease, sustainability and life on earth. So the question 0:07:24.530 --> 0:07:29.040 is who would steal an endangered plant? I met up 0:07:29.040 --> 0:07:33.889 with Carley Cowell. Carley is Kew Senior Science Policy advisor 0:07:34.090 --> 0:07:37.220 for the CITES team. You might want to remember that 0:07:37.220 --> 0:07:40.550 acronym CITES, because you're going to hear a bit more 0:07:40.550 --> 0:07:44.960 of it. CITES is the Convention on International Trade in 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:48.869 Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna. Bit of a 0:07:48.870 --> 0:07:51.570 mouthful, so you can see why they needed a snappier title. 0:07:52.630 --> 0:07:55.580 South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot. One of the smallest 0:07:55.580 --> 0:07:58.940 plant kingdoms in the world, being only in a single 0:07:58.940 --> 0:08:03.080 country, whereas there's other plant kingdoms that span continents, and 0:08:03.080 --> 0:08:06.210 this just leads to that element of being rare and 0:08:06.210 --> 0:08:09.220 having a high status. And when I was living and 0:08:09.220 --> 0:08:12.670 working there, my role was to go and to search 0:08:12.670 --> 0:08:16.840 for these rare plants and to locate them, check their 0:08:16.840 --> 0:08:19.850 population, see that they were surviving in the wild and that they were 0:08:19.850 --> 0:08:22.970 healthy. And there were no threats to them. The conservation, the 0:08:22.970 --> 0:08:27.360 basic form of conservation. What we did find unfortunately, was 0:08:27.360 --> 0:08:30.309 that there was the dark side of things where people 0:08:30.310 --> 0:08:34.120 wanted to then collect these rare plants and sell them 0:08:34.559 --> 0:08:39.030 for their rarity. We would often find that we'd go 0:08:39.030 --> 0:08:42.340 to a population, count the numbers, and then return to 0:08:42.340 --> 0:08:44.280 go back and see if they'd set seed or some. 0:08:44.280 --> 0:08:47.140 And they were gone. They'd been collected, ripped out the 0:08:47.140 --> 0:08:51.410 ground. There were just holes left. Taken to garden centers 0:08:51.410 --> 0:08:54.640 or collectors in South Africa, but a lot for export 0:08:54.829 --> 0:09:01.130 to the states, Europe and Singapore. We were aware of 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:04.110 an individual who'd come through from Eastern Europe and was 0:09:04.110 --> 0:09:07.640 traveling in South Africa, had been known to collect reptiles 0:09:07.770 --> 0:09:13.439 illegally, and we were tracking him. And the news came 0:09:13.439 --> 0:09:16.429 that he had entered a national park and that he 0:09:16.429 --> 0:09:19.730 was in the vicinity and we tracked him down and 0:09:19.730 --> 0:09:22.610 got to his guest house. We searched and in his 0:09:22.610 --> 0:09:28.389 bathroom, we found over 2000 succulent plant species. We found 0:09:28.390 --> 0:09:32.969 reptiles, snakes and lizards, but plants. An entire bathroom with 0:09:32.980 --> 0:09:39.600 2000 meticulously labeled and packaged. It was just unbelievable, but 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:43.739 it was gut wrenching at the same time, because he 0:09:43.740 --> 0:09:47.650 was not a botanist and a conservationist. If you collect 0:09:47.650 --> 0:09:50.069 something as a botanist, you take the locality, you know 0:09:50.069 --> 0:09:51.980 where it came from, because you'd like to go back 0:09:51.980 --> 0:09:55.000 and see if the rest of the population, because you wouldn't take 0:09:55.000 --> 0:09:58.881 an entire population was still thriving. These plants were just taken. 0:09:58.881 --> 0:10:05.469 Carly is often found in Kew's Jodrell laboratory, working with 0:10:05.470 --> 0:10:08.189 teams in the wood anatomy lab and the taxonomist as 0:10:08.189 --> 0:10:12.339 well. She's also regularly based in Kew's millennium seed bank 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:16.809 at Wakehurst and works closely with government departments. She is 0:10:16.809 --> 0:10:20.380 passionate that we can change our attitude to what's green 0:10:20.459 --> 0:10:21.199 and unseen. 0:10:22.350 --> 0:10:26.400 I think growing up in South Africa and seeing the 0:10:26.400 --> 0:10:29.420 species in the wild ray and common plants and just 0:10:29.569 --> 0:10:34.670 ecosystems functioning on a more natural level, I want others 0:10:34.670 --> 0:10:38.530 to experience that. I want it to remain as it 0:10:38.530 --> 0:10:43.030 is. My belief is that we are custodians for the 0:10:43.030 --> 0:10:45.360 earth. We are to look after it and guard it 0:10:45.809 --> 0:10:50.020 and let it function as it is meant to be. It's 0:10:50.020 --> 0:10:53.189 not for us to plunder and pillage and use for 0:10:53.189 --> 0:10:57.589 our own personal gain, come what may for nature. That's 0:10:57.589 --> 0:11:01.089 my driving factor. I want to be a custodian. I 0:11:01.089 --> 0:11:03.709 want to protect the earth and I want generations to 0:11:03.709 --> 0:11:06.160 come to experience what I've experienced. 0:11:07.300 --> 0:11:11.609 So one of the things that I find really intriguing is how do these plants smuggling 0:11:11.610 --> 0:11:14.620 networks operate? Like how do they operate on the ground? 0:11:14.969 --> 0:11:20.609 From my past experience of working in conservation and particularly 0:11:20.610 --> 0:11:26.439 protected areas, they function the same way as any illegal 0:11:26.439 --> 0:11:29.959 crime syndicates would function. You've got the kingpins at the 0:11:29.959 --> 0:11:33.790 top with lots of money, supplying a demand for something 0:11:33.790 --> 0:11:37.800 rare and highly valuable. And it filters down to those 0:11:37.800 --> 0:11:41.630 who are actually on the ground doing poaching, are often 0:11:41.699 --> 0:11:45.510 the poor poverty- stricken people who are desperate, who don't 0:11:45.559 --> 0:11:50.829 have other options in society. And don't have a fallback 0:11:50.829 --> 0:11:54.689 from government for funding. So they are the ones actually 0:11:54.689 --> 0:11:56.750 putting their lives on the line and going out and 0:11:56.750 --> 0:11:57.589 doing the poaching. 0:11:57.929 --> 0:12:01.589 It's quite difficult. It's a network of organized crime, that's 0:12:01.589 --> 0:12:04.770 really analogous to things like the trade in drugs, for 0:12:04.770 --> 0:12:08.479 example. And it can be almost impossible for non- geeks 0:12:08.480 --> 0:12:11.309 to think about plants as being that valuable. 0:12:12.250 --> 0:12:16.929 The ones we're talking about are newly discovered species, species 0:12:16.929 --> 0:12:21.500 on the brink of extinction, where there's only a handful. 0:12:21.500 --> 0:12:23.900 And what I mean by a handful, I mean like literally five. As 0:12:23.900 --> 0:12:29.500 in five fingers, that's left. So they become sought after, 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:33.290 a bragging right for these collectors that have them. I've 0:12:33.290 --> 0:12:37.410 got one of the last remaining 15 plants. So they 0:12:37.410 --> 0:12:41.400 put this value on them that is just exorbitant and 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:44.510 is unrealistic. When you think of the fact that you 0:12:44.510 --> 0:12:46.929 could mass produce them like the ones in the garden 0:12:46.929 --> 0:12:50.089 center and everyone could have, but then you wouldn't have 0:12:50.089 --> 0:12:54.589 that status of owning that rare plant. It's soul destroying 0:12:55.040 --> 0:12:57.319 at a level. You feel you've failed them in the 0:12:57.319 --> 0:13:04.139 wild. There's a term known as plant blindness, which is 0:13:04.280 --> 0:13:08.969 prevalent across the world through all societies. As humans, we've 0:13:08.969 --> 0:13:12.309 evolved from being chased by things that could eat us. 0:13:12.309 --> 0:13:15.599 So we needed to actually see them coming first, rather 0:13:15.599 --> 0:13:18.179 than the green plants, which weren't so much of a 0:13:18.179 --> 0:13:21.929 threat. So we phase out the green into the background 0:13:21.929 --> 0:13:23.979 and we look for things that are moving or bright 0:13:23.980 --> 0:13:28.160 colors or hairy. So we're blind to plants. They're just 0:13:28.160 --> 0:13:30.269 there. They always have been and they always will be. 0:13:33.410 --> 0:13:36.849 These are organized criminal networks, and that can have a 0:13:36.849 --> 0:13:40.880 very human cost when plants may be worth millions of 0:13:40.880 --> 0:13:45.110 pounds. The consequences to conservationists on the ground, trying to 0:13:45.110 --> 0:13:48.770 protect both can be illness. Like I understand you have 0:13:48.770 --> 0:13:51.640 experience of this in national parks in Mozambique. 0:13:52.199 --> 0:13:56.189 Yes, I personally wasn't there, but I had colleagues that 0:13:56.189 --> 0:13:59.740 we work closely with on the Kruger National Park, Mozambique 0:13:59.740 --> 0:14:04.239 border. The rangers protecting very rare cycads that grow in 0:14:04.240 --> 0:14:07.490 Mozambique and across the border in South Africa, were being 0:14:07.490 --> 0:14:12.309 poached. And they were being shot at, and people lost 0:14:12.309 --> 0:14:17.219 their lives because of protecting rare plants. 0:14:18.339 --> 0:14:21.920 So apart from orchids and cacti, cycads are this other 0:14:21.920 --> 0:14:24.550 group of plants where there's a massive business. 0:14:25.610 --> 0:14:29.640 Yes. So cycads hold the dubious title of being some 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:32.020 of the oldest plants in the world. They're known as 0:14:32.020 --> 0:14:36.009 living fossils. And they were around during the Jurassic period 0:14:36.010 --> 0:14:40.570 with the dinosaurs. They probably covered the entire earth, but 0:14:40.570 --> 0:14:45.090 now they're just stuck in a few pockets, clinging onto 0:14:45.090 --> 0:14:49.869 the edge of survival. They're highly sought after. They're extremely 0:14:49.870 --> 0:14:53.050 old and the older the cycad and the fewer they 0:14:53.050 --> 0:14:56.330 are of its kind, the price is then a lot 0:14:56.330 --> 0:15:00.710 higher. And we're talking hundreds of thousands of pounds to 0:15:00.710 --> 0:15:05.050 millions, depending on the species, its rarity and its age. 0:15:05.950 --> 0:15:09.749 The high price of these individual plants and the older they 0:15:09.750 --> 0:15:13.160 are and the rarer they are, although, there's a risk 0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:17.660 of being caught, there's very little prosecution and jail time. 0:15:17.660 --> 0:15:23.080 And the fines are minuscule compared to the prices that 0:15:23.330 --> 0:15:26.940 these items are actually sold at the end. The people 0:15:26.940 --> 0:15:29.570 who know the plants and love them and have studied 0:15:29.570 --> 0:15:33.370 them, don't get paid very well for it. It's not 0:15:33.370 --> 0:15:38.170 a high profile, highly paid job. So they do sometimes 0:15:38.170 --> 0:15:42.040 turn to the illegal trade where they can then use 0:15:42.040 --> 0:15:44.629 their skills and expertise to sell these plants on to 0:15:44.740 --> 0:15:47.920 those collectors who will pay thousands or millions for them. 0:15:48.530 --> 0:15:51.720 Thanks for listening to Unearthed. I'll be back again in 0:15:51.720 --> 0:15:54.250 just a minute, but first here's a message from our 0:15:54.370 --> 0:15:55.619 supporter, Kim Katra. 0:15:57.570 --> 0:16:01.999 As a charity, the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew is facing 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:06.560 a severe funding crisis right now. The impact of coronavirus 0:16:06.560 --> 0:16:11.470 has created a financial shortfall of 15 million pounds. This 0:16:11.470 --> 0:16:14.650 money is vital for the upkeep of these beautiful botanic 0:16:14.650 --> 0:16:20.650 gardens and crucial to continuing its global conservation work. Plants 0:16:20.650 --> 0:16:23.750 and fungi hold many of the answers to the world's 0:16:23.750 --> 0:16:29.280 biggest challenges such as climate change, food security and biodiversity 0:16:29.280 --> 0:16:33.060 loss. And Kew needs to play a role in furthering 0:16:33.060 --> 0:16:38.060 the science and identifying desperately needed solutions. If there's one 0:16:38.060 --> 0:16:41.450 positive thing that could come out of this pandemic, it 0:16:41.450 --> 0:16:44.330 will be to encourage each and every one of us 0:16:44.330 --> 0:16:48.820 to look afresh and with urgency at these global challenges. 0:16:49.270 --> 0:16:52.950 If you are enjoying this podcast and feel inspired by 0:16:52.950 --> 0:16:57.009 the work that Kew does, please go to kew.org to 0:16:57.010 --> 0:17:01.530 donate today. To help not only protect Kew, but also 0:17:01.530 --> 0:17:04.179 preserve the future of our planet. 0:17:09.280 --> 0:17:12.889 Accidental crime can happen when people aren't used to thinking 0:17:12.940 --> 0:17:17.139 about the global impact of small actions, but what about 0:17:17.139 --> 0:17:21.359 the more conscious and perhaps more sinister trade. A global 0:17:21.409 --> 0:17:26.080 illegal plant trade doesn't respect the natural population, habitat or 0:17:26.080 --> 0:17:30.310 biodiversity of a species. I spoke to Guy Clark at 0:17:30.310 --> 0:17:32.540 the UK Border Force at Heathrow airport. 0:17:37.350 --> 0:17:41.159 I've been doing this work for approximately 25 years. And 0:17:41.159 --> 0:17:44.800 before that I ran a drugs anti- smuggling team at 0:17:44.800 --> 0:17:48.179 Heathrow for 10 years before that. So my whole career 0:17:48.180 --> 0:17:51.840 is mainly airport based with a few visits to the 0:17:51.840 --> 0:17:56.139 UK ports thrown in. Some of the more unusual items 0:17:56.139 --> 0:18:00.409 we've seized. We've had tins of soup made from sea 0:18:00.409 --> 0:18:03.960 turtles and the sea turtle is listed on appendix one 0:18:03.960 --> 0:18:07.750 of CITES. So there's no commercial trade. We've had motor 0:18:07.750 --> 0:18:11.530 vehicles made here in the UK that have been exported 0:18:11.530 --> 0:18:15.609 abroad and all the leather inside was crocodile skin. And 0:18:15.609 --> 0:18:19.430 they didn't have any of the right CITES permits because 0:18:19.430 --> 0:18:23.240 all crocodiles and alligators are controlled. So not only your 0:18:23.520 --> 0:18:27.340 expensive handbags, but any skin items and- 0:18:27.340 --> 0:18:29.970 But just the idea of not knowing where to look. If someone 0:18:29.970 --> 0:18:33.190 was exporting a car, I just would never, ever have 0:18:33.190 --> 0:18:35.850 imagined that UK Border Force would need to look at it. 0:18:36.200 --> 0:18:39.510 Now, what varies in the detection side of things is 0:18:39.649 --> 0:18:43.519 not just the illegal wildlife trade. It's drugs, its illegal 0:18:43.520 --> 0:18:48.019 migrants, it's conflict diamonds. So we have a wide range 0:18:48.090 --> 0:18:51.480 of duties, but we do have a number of the 0:18:51.700 --> 0:18:56.550 more unusual tasks allocated to us, dealing with the restricted 0:18:56.550 --> 0:19:01.320 parts and animals, is one of those where the large numbers 0:19:01.320 --> 0:19:07.400 of species controlled under the CITES convention. Now there's about 28, 0:19:07.590 --> 0:19:12.100 000 plants and trees controlled under the CITES convention and round about 7, 0:19:12.100 --> 0:19:16.570 000 animals. We know where our high risk countries of 0:19:16.570 --> 0:19:20.330 origin are. We know where high risk plant and timber 0:19:20.330 --> 0:19:24.409 species come from. So we can narrow down our controls 0:19:24.450 --> 0:19:29.850 and focus and deploy to those flights or those ships 0:19:29.850 --> 0:19:32.480 that bring in containers or flights that bring in air 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:36.450 cargo and mail for the high risk countries. So for 0:19:36.450 --> 0:19:42.139 plants where we're talking about Southeast Asia, India, sometimes the 0:19:42.139 --> 0:19:46.290 United States. So we can focus in on those areas 0:19:46.340 --> 0:19:50.119 that we know are high risk. And with our intelligence 0:19:50.119 --> 0:19:53.810 exchanges, that helps make our job a bit easier. It 0:19:53.810 --> 0:19:54.560 is difficult. 0:19:55.030 --> 0:19:57.379 So how does the Border Force work with Kew? 0:19:57.760 --> 0:20:02.280 We rely on the botanists at Kew to identify the 0:20:02.280 --> 0:20:06.139 species, particularly orchids. Now, there's a large number of orchid 0:20:06.139 --> 0:20:09.350 species from Southeast Asia that have the highest levels of 0:20:09.350 --> 0:20:13.050 protection under CITES. So there should be no commercial trade 0:20:13.050 --> 0:20:16.439 in these species. When we see a plant, it's probably 0:20:16.440 --> 0:20:19.629 going to have no indication of what the species is. 0:20:19.629 --> 0:20:23.010 It'll just be wrapped up in newspaper. So we have 0:20:23.010 --> 0:20:26.359 had occasions where it's taken two or three months before 0:20:26.359 --> 0:20:30.179 the plant has actually flowered before the botanists are able 0:20:30.179 --> 0:20:34.149 to determine the exact species. We have had a commercial 0:20:34.149 --> 0:20:39.590 importer who was smuggling appendix one, orchids in his suitcases 0:20:39.590 --> 0:20:43.040 through terminal three. And he got a custodial sentence for 0:20:43.210 --> 0:20:46.609 three months in prison on each of the charges, when 0:20:46.609 --> 0:20:50.439 the botanists at Kew or Peter Gasson, the wood anatomist. 0:20:50.770 --> 0:20:55.240 Now they will do their examinations and should a case 0:20:55.240 --> 0:20:58.680 go to court and the orchid case that I referred to earlier. 0:20:59.030 --> 0:21:02.369 It was the first time an impact statement had been 0:21:02.369 --> 0:21:07.129 prepared by a scientific institution in a UK court. The 0:21:07.129 --> 0:21:12.040 impact statement is now used in all wildlife cases, both 0:21:12.040 --> 0:21:15.330 here in the UK now and abroad. And that actually 0:21:15.330 --> 0:21:19.629 provides the court with information about the damage the smugglers 0:21:19.629 --> 0:21:22.750 are causing by taking the plants from the wild in 0:21:22.750 --> 0:21:25.790 their range states. If you're going to buy plants, it's 0:21:25.790 --> 0:21:30.560 much better to buy plants from nurseries, approved nurseries that 0:21:30.560 --> 0:21:33.659 have got a chain of documentation to show where their 0:21:33.659 --> 0:21:38.020 products originated rather than digging plants up in the wild. 0:21:38.210 --> 0:21:40.850 Not only do you damage the environment there, but you 0:21:40.850 --> 0:21:45.980 risk bringing disease and other pests into the UK when 0:21:45.980 --> 0:21:48.070 you smuggle them through. And no one really wants that. 0:21:50.149 --> 0:21:54.300 The global wood industry has seen a boom. This in 0:21:54.320 --> 0:21:58.439 demand oil found in fragrances and cosmetics can be purchased 0:21:58.439 --> 0:22:02.359 for a small fortune on the high street. It's created 0:22:02.359 --> 0:22:06.639 from the wood chips or shavings of Agarwood, a resonance 0:22:06.639 --> 0:22:11.220 timber found at the hardwood of Aquilaria Chis native to 0:22:11.220 --> 0:22:15.900 Southeast Asia. When trees are infected by a certain mold, 0:22:16.139 --> 0:22:19.119 it turns the wood dark and the tree then creates 0:22:19.169 --> 0:22:23.700 a strongly centered resin to protect itself. Tips from these 0:22:23.700 --> 0:22:28.550 infected hardwoods are used to create the purist extract, but 0:22:28.550 --> 0:22:31.100 the leftover shavings can be used to make a lower 0:22:31.100 --> 0:22:35.929 quality, less intense oil too. High value is placed upon 0:22:35.929 --> 0:22:39.550 wild sources of the soil, but this hasn't been without 0:22:39.659 --> 0:22:43.670 its problems. And over- harvesting has led to habitat loss 0:22:44.000 --> 0:22:51.159 and international monitoring of the wood trade. Carly told me more. 0:22:51.159 --> 0:22:54.590 Many cultures are being spread around the world and the 0:22:54.770 --> 0:22:59.750 elements of this oil are it's so potent. You only 0:22:59.750 --> 0:23:02.919 need a few drops in the base of a fragrance 0:23:03.220 --> 0:23:08.760 for it to last for ages and to be fantastic. It's 0:23:09.169 --> 0:23:12.450 the best I can describe it. The thing is that 0:23:12.450 --> 0:23:16.629 to produce this oil, certain trees known as Agarwood trees 0:23:17.090 --> 0:23:21.929 actually have to be infected by a certain fungus. So 0:23:21.929 --> 0:23:25.119 they get a wound, a tree loses a branch in 0:23:25.119 --> 0:23:29.619 a storm and it gets infected. And the infection actually 0:23:29.619 --> 0:23:34.869 forms this oil, which is then extracted and only 2% of 0:23:34.869 --> 0:23:38.359 trees that are infected, even produce this oil. So it's 0:23:38.359 --> 0:23:43.970 very rare and it's just escalated from being very rare 0:23:43.970 --> 0:23:47.280 in the trees and being harvested to being very potent. 0:23:47.649 --> 0:23:51.669 And therefore with those two factors that it's a really 0:23:51.669 --> 0:23:56.159 good oil and it's also rare, the price is astronomical. 0:23:56.560 --> 0:24:02.499 It's roughly about 1000 pounds for 500 moles of the 0:24:02.500 --> 0:24:04.080 essence of the oil. 0:24:06.919 --> 0:24:10.810 Carly and her Kew colleagues are also actively engaged in 0:24:10.810 --> 0:24:16.070 good old fashioned intelligence work to track and intercept illegal 0:24:16.070 --> 0:24:20.030 plant trading in other places. I caught up with David 0:24:20.030 --> 0:24:24.409 Whitehead from Kew's conservation policy team. He's been working on 0:24:24.409 --> 0:24:28.310 a project called Flora Guard, which sees teams from Kew, 0:24:28.550 --> 0:24:34.510 the University of Southampton, criminologists and computer scientists, all joining 0:24:34.510 --> 0:24:37.770 forces to combat wildlife crime on the web. 0:24:38.980 --> 0:24:42.959 It might be natural to assume that wildlife cyber crime 0:24:42.960 --> 0:24:45.820 is taking place in these sort of more secretive parts of 0:24:45.830 --> 0:24:49.139 the internet, the deep web or the dark web. But 0:24:49.139 --> 0:24:53.850 in fact, studies have shown that, that's a rarity. The 0:24:53.850 --> 0:24:56.340 vast majority takes place on the surface web. 0:24:56.649 --> 0:25:00.889 And this awareness is important, because many people engaging in 0:25:00.889 --> 0:25:03.939 this trade may have absolutely no idea, both from a 0:25:03.939 --> 0:25:07.639 buyer and seller side that what they're doing is illegal. 0:25:07.919 --> 0:25:10.310 So how do you even go about this tracking with 0:25:10.310 --> 0:25:13.929 your team? Because with the pure number of entries on 0:25:13.929 --> 0:25:17.939 online search engines, it must be so difficult. You must 0:25:17.939 --> 0:25:21.350 be talking about literally billions of entries that you'd have 0:25:21.350 --> 0:25:22.070 to trail through. 0:25:22.970 --> 0:25:26.519 The scale of the internet is a real challenge for 0:25:26.520 --> 0:25:32.330 monitoring and surveillance of wildlife crime. And Flora Guard has 0:25:32.330 --> 0:25:38.739 tried to address this challenge by bringing together sophisticated web 0:25:38.740 --> 0:25:43.210 searching and information extraction tools, which fall under the umbrella 0:25:43.210 --> 0:25:45.389 of artificial intelligence or AI. 0:25:46.109 --> 0:25:50.759 So you literally have robot police officers, well, not... Yeah, 0:25:50.889 --> 0:25:53.019 literally, and also figuratively. 0:25:53.609 --> 0:25:58.149 Perhaps to some extent, it's still important to involve human 0:25:58.149 --> 0:26:03.470 judgment in these decisions, particularly with an area as complex 0:26:03.530 --> 0:26:09.489 as wildlife crime. It's very difficult to prove illegality. You 0:26:09.490 --> 0:26:13.419 have to read between the lines slightly. So keeping a 0:26:13.419 --> 0:26:17.019 human in the loop we might say is also important. 0:26:17.460 --> 0:26:22.899 So the Flora Guard methodology combines AI, web searching and 0:26:22.899 --> 0:26:29.139 information extraction tools with human analysis and judgment as well. 0:26:29.740 --> 0:26:32.840 Because there's always a human story at the other end 0:26:32.840 --> 0:26:35.109 behind it. There's a human story behind the poaching. There's a 0:26:35.109 --> 0:26:39.409 human story behind what drives people to collect these plants 0:26:39.409 --> 0:26:44.689 and buy and sell them. And understanding that is important 0:26:44.689 --> 0:26:49.679