Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether he plans to support the International Fund for Animal Welfare's initiative to provide detection dogs in Benin which can sniff out shipments of animal parts, in order to disrupt trafficking networks.

The Government is committed to tackling the illegal wildlife trade (IWT) and helping to conserve nature and wildlife. Strengthening law enforcement is a key strand of our work. It is one of the topics on which organisations, such as the International Fund for Animal Welfare, can bid for funding from the Government’s Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund. Currently through the IWT Fund and with some additional funding from Defra, the UK is funding Interpol and the International Consortium on Combatting Wildlife Crime, which is an international initiative to help countries strengthen their criminal justice systems and enhance enforcement. The UK has committed up to £4 million to this initiative.