The EPI Foundation develops a ‘Gold Standard App’ to help wildlife officials with the secure management of ivory and other wildlife products.
The EPI Foundation, working with technology partners Bityarn Consult, have developed a 'Gold Standards App', to help wildlife officials with the secure and transparent management of ivory and other wildlife products. The App enables officials to digitally record information through an Assessment questionnaire - for example for an ivory storage facility– to help determine which aspects of the storeroom and its management needs improving. They can record this information without being connected to the internet, and upload it to a secure server whenever convenient to receive recommendations on what improvements to make. The App conforms to the EPI Foundation's ‘Gold Standard’, a comprehensive set of procedures that includes transport, storeroom security and inventory collection of wildlife products, which aim to meet and exceed recommendations laid out by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The EPI Foundation’s ‘Gold Standard’s have already been adopted by Gabon, Nigeria, Angola, Ethiopia, Malawi, Uganda and Côte d’Ivoire.
Bityarn Consult’s Kip Biwott, who is based in Nairobi, said, 'this App can be uploaded to any Android tablet or phone. It’s a practical tool that empowers African officials in the field to keep wildlife products safe’. The EPI Foundation’s CEO John Scanlon said, ‘We’re delighted with the development of this App, which is an important part of our ‘Gold Standards’ programme. We look forward to it being rolled out amongst EPI countries, which are committed to closing ivory markets and ending illicit wildlife trafficking’.
