Protect. Serve. Secure.

The Endangered Species Protection Agency (ESPA) works within international law and alongside local law enforcement, conservation organisations and protected areas to protect endangered and threatened species.

Our work combines specialist training, intelligence, investigations and conservation security to disrupt the criminal and exploitative activities threatening wildlife.

Our mission is simple: to significantly reduce the illegal and unethical trade in endangered and threatened species and help secure their future.

Protect, serve and secure today’s wildlife for the future.

A global trade. A devastating impact.

Wildlife crime goes far beyond poaching. It includes the illegal killing and hunting of endangered species, trafficking of live animals and body parts, smuggling, exploitation and animal cruelty.

Behind it can sit organised criminal networks linked to violence, corruption, money laundering and the destruction of habitats and communities.

The consequences reach far beyond the individual animal. Wildlife crime threatens entire species, harms the people who live alongside them and fuels criminal activity across the world.

Every crime has a victim. And every time a species is pushed closer to extinction, we all lose.

ESPA exists to fight back.

Fighting wildlife crime on the front line

Protecting endangered species requires more than one solution.
ESPA works across Africa, Asia, South America and Europe, supporting those on the front line of wildlife protection. We train wildlife rangers and law enforcement officers, provide intelligence and operational mentoring, investigate illegal wildlife crime and advise protected areas on security and ranger welfare.

Our specialists also deliver marine and riverine training, human rights training and targeted conservation interventions, bringing practical expertise wherever wildlife is under threat.

From strengthening the skills of a ranger on patrol to investigating international wildlife trafficking networks, our work has one purpose: to make wildlife safer.

LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING

We provide training for scenes of crime officers aimed at establishing up-to-date best practices.

ILLEGAL WILDLIFE CRIME INVESTIGATIONS

Our specialist investigations and intelligence teams gather evidence using specialist equipment.

HUMAN RIGHTS TRAINING

We design and teach wildlife ranger codes of conduct to help law enforcement carry out their duties with due regard for international human rights.

Whale Wash: Exposing the reality of modern whaling

Norway kills more than 500 minke whales every year – despite most historic whaling nations having ended the practice decades ago.

But minke whales do not belong to one country. They migrate across vast areas of ocean, passing through the waters of several nations – including the UK – during their annual journeys.

ESPA investigators travelled to Norway to document the modern whaling industry, capturing contemporary footage of whale hunts and speaking with scientists, whalers and local people.

The resulting investigation, Whale Wash, questions the science, ethics and justification behind Norway’s continued commercial whaling – and asks why this is still happening in the 21st century.

What happens if we fail to protect them?

Rhinos. Elephants. Tigers. Gorillas. Orangutans. Sharks. Whales.
Around the world, extraordinary species continue to face poaching, illegal trade, exploitation and other human pressures.

For some, the stakes could not be higher.

ESPA works to tackle the criminal activity and exploitation threatening wildlife and to strengthen the people and organisations working to protect them.

Because extinction is permanent. Once a species is gone, we cannot bring it back.