Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department will take steps to support Somaliland with tackling animal (a) poaching and (b) trafficking in that region.

The UK is committed to protecting endangered animals and plants from poaching and illegal trade to benefit wildlife, local communities and the economy, and protect global security. We are investing over £46 million globally between 2014 and 2022 to counter illegal trade by reducing demand, strengthening enforcement, ensuring effective legal frameworks and developing sustainable livelihoods. Through the Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) Challenge Fund the UK has committed over £900,000 to the Legal Intelligence for Cheetah Illicit Trade (LICIT) Fund to enhance national and regional capacity in the Horn of Africa, including in Somaliland, to fight wildlife crime by strengthening national and regional level legal capacity and increasing community capacity and ownership of wildlife resources.