SOCIAL MEDIA SHOULD BE MORE COOPERATIVE FOR NATURE CONSERVATION

REPRODUCED FROM: (on top of photo below)

Manaus (AM) – Facebook, the Meta conglomerate, was fined R$ 10 million [U$ 1,820,000.00]by the Brazilian Institute of The Environment and Renewable Natural Resources ('IBAMA') for exposing for sale 2,227 specimens of Brazilian native wildlife without the proper permission, license or authorization of the competent environmental authority. A dossier of the National Network to Combat the Trafficking of Wild Animals (Renctas), carried out from a scientific study in partnership with the University of Northumbria in the United Kingdom, served as the basis for ibama's action. The study monitored groups on Facebook and Whatsapp (which is also part of the meta company), from the end of 2020 to the beginning of 2022. During this period, more than four million messages were cataloged by the institution to identify patterns and trends of the illegal online market of wild animals in Brazil. According to the dossier, 1,682 wild animals were registered for sale, and a total of U$127,272.00 moved. Renctas had already tried to contact Facebook for the posts to be deleted, denouncing the sale by the means offered by the platform. Without any return, Renctas sent the result of the dossier to Ibama. About 500 prints of Messages on Facebook and 500 prints of messages on WhatsApp were sent to the agency. […] "They often use the unfavorable socioeconomic conditions of communities in regions of great biological diversity to co-opt people. Dealers buy or trade these animals by bargaining for food, clothing. It is a social problem that we have on the basis of wildlife trafficking",according to Dener Giovanini, Renctas general-coordinator. According to the data collected by the study, among the most commercialized animals are reptiles (44%) and birds (40%). There is also commercialization of exotic species (19%), a fact that draws attention because they are species that do not occur naturally in Brazil. The screenshots provided by Renctas show animals such as macaws, spiders, snakes, owls and iguanas. […]