Masterclass on Mitigating Illegal Wildlife Trade

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The Course

The Oxford Masterclass on Mitigating Illegal Wildlife Trade is designed to give you a comprehensive understanding of the complexity and dynamic nature of wildlife trade systems, with a specific focus on addressing illegal wildlife trade (IWT). The course is delivered by Oxford academics and collaborators from around the world.

Throughout the course, you will explore how actions and interventions interact within broader social-ecological systems and assess the roles, motivations and impacts of various actors involved in wildlife trade and governance. You will also learn to critically evaluate policies and regulations at multiple scales, with a view to ensuring that any wildlife trade is both legal and sustainable.  

By identifying key tools, resources and approaches, you will be equipped to evaluate different intervention types and secure funding for impactful wildlife trade projects. With a strong focus on interdisciplinarity, this course will provide you with the knowledge needed to make informed decisions to influence real-world conservation outcomes.

This is a new online course which will run over a period of six weeks in May and June 2025 and is targeted at practitioners, researchers, and policymakers in West Africa.

Please note that this masterclass is not an accredited University of Oxford course.

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You will study six modules which involve a combination of live and pre-recorded lectures, practical activities, and self-led study. Further details are provided below. 

Defining the wildlife trade

  • Definitions of wildlife trade
  • Assessing threats and opportunities
  • Exploring management types

Wildlife trade systems

  • Characterising wildlife trade systems
  • Actors and roles in wildlife trade systems

Stakeholders

  • Identifying stakeholders along supply chains
  • Understanding stakeholders
  • Exploring policy options

Governance, economics, and resources

  • Understanding governance
  • Introduction to wildlife trade economics
  • Sustainability

Intervening in the system

  • Selecting conservation interventions
  • Monitoring and evaluating interventions
  • Wildlife trade simulations

Effecting change in managing illegal wildlife trade

  • Fundraising
  • Communications
  • Engaging policymakers

There is no formal, summative assessment for the course. However, feedback will be provided by the course leaders and some guest lecturers on pieces of work completed during the course. A certificate of completion and digital badge will also be offered to course participants.

Learning

The masterclass is an online course and involves a combination of live sessions, pre-recorded lectures, practical activities, online discussions, and self-led study. 

On completing the course, you will be able to:

  • Define wildlife trade systems with reference to their complex and dynamic characteristics. 
  • Explain and illustrate how actions and interventions are part of a wider social-ecological system.  
  • Recognise different actors, their roles and motivations within wildlife trade systems.  
  • Outline and assess the plausibility of interventions at different scales to ensure that any trade in wildlife is legal and sustainable.
  • Identify and appraise relevant policies and regulations at different scales.  
  • Evaluate the importance of different forms of knowledge about species, their ecology and the impact of extraction to determine suitable management options.
  • Describe and access the necessary resources, networks and skills to successfully implement a project.  
  • Employ a range of tools, approaches, methods and elementary economic theory to understand wildlife trade systems.
  • Recognise where and how to secure funding for wildlife trade related projects.
Admissions

The first iteration of this course will be run online in May and June 2025 and there are 40 places available. The course is open to West African nationals who do not already hold a permanent position at an institution in the UK or Europe (this does not include people on short-term contracts who wish to work in West Africa e.g. post-doctoral researchers).

If you have any questions, please contact iwtmasterclass@biology.ox.ac.uk

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Please complete the application form here. For the Spring 2025 course, please submit the application before or on 25 April 2025. The application form includes the following sections:

  1. Personal details
  2. Details of employment or current position
  3. Area of specialism and how it relates to the wildlife trade
  4. Statement of interest explaining your area of specialism, why you think you would be a good fit for this masterclass, and how it will benefit your current or future work/career (700 characters).

Applications are welcome from people at any stage of their career, in any sector, including those working in academia, government, industry, NGOs, or law enforcement. However, you must be working in a role relevant to wildlife trade, and you must be able to demonstrate clearly your main area of specialism (e.g., species, geography, or sector such as law enforcement), why you think you would be a good fit for this masterclass, and how the masterclass will benefit your current or future work/career.

Before applying, please ensure that you can commit to spending 1 day a week for 6 weeks dedicated to the course, and that if you are in employment, you will be able to step away from your job during that time. The course is flexible and can fit around work commitments, but there are a small number of live sessions that you will need to attend.

There is no need for you to submit proof of English language proficiency, but candidates should be comfortable interacting with their peers, attending seminars, and making presentations in English.

Fees

There is no fee for the course, which will be run online over a six-week period in May and June 2025.