Wildlife Crimes

Illegal land settlement involves unauthorised occupation, development, or conversion of land in violation of national laws or international agreements. Specific illegal practices include occupying protected or environmentally sensitive areas without legal title, constructing homes or infrastructure without required permits, clearing vegetation or altering landscapes without environmental clearance, and converting restricted lands into farms, roads, or settlements. In the Caribbean region, illegal land settlement frequently impacts forests, wetlands, mangroves, coastal zones, watershed areas, and other ecologically significant habitats, often driven by housing shortages, poverty, displacement, or inadequate land governance.

The impacts of illegal land settlement are significant and intersect all five CAR-WEN core values. Biodiversity conservation suffers as widespread habitat loss and fragmentation threaten native wildlife populations and ecosystem integrity. Animal welfare is diminished as displaced wildlife suffer increased mortality or stress due to habitat destruction and human-wildlife conflicts. Weak enforcement of land-use regulations undermines the rule of law, eroding institutional authority, complicating environmental governance, and fostering long-term planning challenges. Human well-being is compromised as informal settlements often lack basic infrastructure such as sanitation, clean water, and waste management, heightening community vulnerability to flooding, landslides, or other natural disasters. Additionally, inadequate sanitation and unmanaged waste in illegal settlements pose significant public health risks through contamination of water sources and increased disease transmission.

While illegal land settlement is a recognised challenge throughout the Caribbean, effectively addressing it requires integrated approaches involving clear land-tenure frameworks, equitable housing solutions, meaningful community engagement, and improved environmental enforcement. Achieving these outcomes also demands strengthened collaboration among planning, conservation, public health, and disaster management authorities, tailored to local ecological, socio-economic, and cultural contexts.