Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many diplomatic staff whose work includes tackling the illegal wildlife trade are based in (a) China, (b) Vietnam, (c) Laos, (d) Malaysia, (e) Botswana, (f) Mozambique, (g) Gabon, (h) South Africa, (i) Thailand and (j) India.

The numbers requested of diplomatic staff whose work includes illegal wildlife trade are as follows:

China - 5
Vietnam- 3
Laos- 2
Malaysia – 1
Botswana -2
Mozambique- 2
Gabon -2
South Africa -2
Thailand- 2
India -1

In most cases our diplomatic staff in these Posts spend a proportion of their overall time on this issue and are supported by locally engaged staff who also work on tackling illegal wildlife trade.