Motivations for the use and consumption of wildlife products.

The dominant approach to combating the illegal wildlife trade has traditionally been to restrict the supply of wildlife products. Yet conservationists increasingly recognize the importance of implementing demand-side interventions that target the end consumers in the trade chain. Their aim is to curb the consumption of wildlife or shift consumption to more sustainable alternatives.

Response to "The imaginary 'Asian Super Consumer': A critique of demand reduction campaigns for the illegal wildlife trade".

In a recent paper in Geoforum, Margulies et al. (2019) outline what they perceive as a bias toward an "Asian super consumer". They argue that wildlife trade demand reduction campaigns are unfocused, untargeted, and therefore have a tendency to place blame on people of colour and communities in the Global South as key actors in driving illegal wildlife trade.