Some of you will know that I like to base my trips around the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This time, it is Goal No 16.

The mission statement is this: “to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels”.

Now, no one told me that….’societies’, ‘for all’, and ‘at all levels’ only refer to human development. So, I am taking the liberty of adding non-human animals to this goal too. My recent studies have consolidated a view that I already held, that all animals, humans, and non-humans should have equal rights and need each other for our very survival. Yeah, you might think the girl is ‘bonkers’, but then the world is round, not flat.

And yes, animals, like all humans, need peace, justice, and strong institutions.

I am currently reading “The Goliath’s Curse” by Luke Kemp. A top read! It is the culmination of seven years of studying societies throughout all of human history. Comparing and contrasting those that have collapsed, as so many have. I think you can probably guess why I am reading it. He concludes that those that survive have stronger institutions. Considered to be dirty words by some, and taken for granted by the rest of us, in this brief snapshot of our history, the institutions – as flawed as they are – include the UN, the International Criminal Court, the IMF, the World Bank, the WTO, and NATO. In the animal world, IUCN, WWF, and CITES.

I travel to Laos on 21st March, returning on the 10th April.

It led me to think about one of the projects I will join in Laos. LCTW. Too many initials, everyone! This is the Laos Conservation Trust for Wildlife. Set up to rehabilitate and release trafficked animals crossing Asia. What are the chances of resolving this and similar problems without strong institutions? No chance! Wildlife trafficking, like many other horrible types of trafficking, doesn’t see national borders and requires strong international cooperation.

So, reader, I hope you don’t mind if I stretch UN Goal No. 16 to include animals. I don’t think the UN will mind! They have their hands pretty full at the moment…

Pic : Tim Schettman, Unsplash