Qatar Airways extends USAID ROUTES partnership

Reinforcing its commitment to combat illegal trafficking of wildlife and its products, Qatar Airways has extended its participation in the USAID ROUTES (Reducing Opportunities for Unlawful Transport of Endangered Species) Partnership.

Qatar Airways, a founding member of the United for Wildlife Transport Taskforce, signed the historic Buckingham Palace Declaration on 2016, aimed at taking real steps to shut down the routes exploited by traffickers of the illegal wildlife trade, to move their products. Subsequently in May 2017, the airline went on to sign the first Memorandum of Understanding with the ROUTES Partnership.

In May 2019, Qatar Airways became the world’s first airline to achieve certification to the Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) Assessment.

As an inaugural signatory to the Buckingham Palace Declaration in March 2016 and a founding member of the United for Wildlife Transport Taskforce, Qatar Airways has a zero-tolerance policy towards the transportation of illegal wildlife and their products.

Qatar Airways Cargo launched the second chapter of its sustainability programme WeQare: Rewild the Planet earlier this year, focused on transporting wild animals back to their natural habitat, free of charge. The cargo carrier’s initiative to preserve wildlife and rewild the planet is aligned with the airline’s commitment to fight wildlife trafficking and illegal trade of wild animals and thereby protect the environment and planet Earth.

Crawford Allan, the ROUTES Partnership Lead, welcomed the leadership Qatar Airways has shown in efforts to prevent wildlife trafficking saying: “Through its actions on raising awareness, training and including wildlife trafficking within its policies, Qatar Airways has demonstrated its commitment to the Buckingham Palace Declaration and to the goal of the ROUTES Partnership. I am proud to see that Qatar Airways is continuing these efforts and being part of a growing number of companies to say It Doesn’t Fly With Us.”