World leaders are gathered again in New York for the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly to discuss some of the greatest crises challenging the global community today. They have already taken up the issues of climate change, the terror threat posed by the Islamic State, and the devastating outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa.

Government leaders are also reviewing the work completed by the General Assembly earlier this year on the new set of global development goals that will succeed the Millennium Development Goals. Included among them are two critical targets on preventing the extinction of threatened species and taking urgent action to halt poaching and trafficking and demand and supply of illegal wildlife products.

On Friday, Germany and Gabon led a high level event to discuss illegal wildlife trafficking in an effort to keep the issue high on the global political agenda. The trafficking in wildlife and their parts is a criminal international trade worth an estimated $20 billion a year.

The soaring demand for products derived from wildlife has pushed several iconic species --including elephants, rhinos, and tigers, as well as many lesser known species -- toward the precipice of extinction. This is a global crisis for both wildlife and people, particularly local communities; it undermines equality within and among nations, sustainable consumption and production, the health of ecosystems, human health, and social stability.

Poaching and the illegal trade in wildlife negatively impacts: the resilience of ecosystems; human security across countries and regions; and national wealth and the ability of countries to generate employment, reduce poverty through tourism, and provide dependable livelihoods through community-based natural resource management.

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