In the last few days I have seen some progress in Malaysia towards tackling the illegal trade in wildlife. Better very late than never.

It’s taken literally years of lobbying to get the various people responsible for law enforcement to actually even begin doing what they are paid to do.

There have been arrests of poachers in recent days. It remains to be seen if they are punished in law.

In Sabah as I write, there is yet another wildlife workshop. This has the potential to be a game-changer, if that is what the wildlife authorities really want. We wait in hope of firm, clear commitments, made by identifiable individuals whom we can hold accountable - something that has never happened in the past.

The only way we can assess any wildlife law enforcement agency or political ‘animal’ is by their actions and results, not by their use of weasel-words and false promises uttered only to try and grab a headline.

We want to see unambiguous commitments come from this workshop, or else it will have been yet another worthless ‘talking shop’, won’t it?

Somewhat worryingly, the Asean members attending are reported to be only considering stiffer penalties’ for law breakers. How much worse must it get before they grasp the problem of the rampant illegal wildlife trade in Malaysia and do something real about it? Sabah’s Chief Judge, no less, has said publicly law enforcement is feeble and punishments weaker still.

The other notable recent news has been an urging from Botswana’s tourism and wildlife minister for greater transparency over ivory stocks held by governments such as Malaysia. “Tshekedi Khama noted that they do not know the inventory of ivory stockpiles in some countries, as some are reluctant to reveal this and also do not allow audits to be conducted. He said it is highly probable that this ivory finds its way into the illegal trade, through corruption.”  

Despite this, the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) is still refusing any independent audit, which, as the Botswana minister rightly says, leaves open the accusation of government complicity and corruption.

Fingers crossed, the Sabah workshop will achieve something notable. Previous ones have tended to be nothing more than a load of hot air and worthless words.    

SEAN WHYTE is CEO, Nature Alert.