Adessium Foundation celebrates 20 years in 2025. We’re using this moment to reflect on our journey together with some of the organizations we’ve supported over the years. This time, we speak with the Wildlife Justice Commission.

Undercover operations

The Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC), based in The Hague, was founded in 2015. The organization collects evidence against transnational criminal networks involved in wildlife, timber, and fisheries trafficking. Executive Director Olivia Swaak-Goldman explains: “We conduct investigations and gather evidence, including through undercover operations.”

“Our goal is to go after the people responsible for trafficking wildlife, timber, and fish. We expose the kingpins and hand our evidence over to law enforcement. Dozens of high-level traffickers have now been convicted and sentenced to long prison terms, and more than 69 criminal networks have been dismantled. When you take out the leaders and their immediate circle, the network collapses.”

The African poaching crisis

“This idea took shape at the height of the African poaching crisis. Adessium was one of our very first funders. They supported us not just financially, but also practically and strategically. Down to simple but critical things, like implementing a four-eyes principle for banking.”

“Adessium also introduced us to others. Their support acted like a stamp of approval: because Adessium backed us, doors began to open. We secured more funders, though most of them focused on specific investigative projects. No one wanted to cover the cost of Wi-Fi and coffee. Adessium did. Their funding was unrestricted, exactly what you need to build a strong organization.”

Focusing first on wildlife

“Two years in, Adessium insisted on a strategic review of WJC. I thought it was a bit early,, we had only just started, but they made it a condition of their support. In hindsight, that report was incredibly valuable. It helped us step back and think about the bigger picture.”

“One key recommendation was to focus solely on wildlife at first. I was ambitious, I wanted to tackle illegal logging and fisheries too. But we put those plans on hold, following Adessium’s advice, until we had developed a solid model for wildlife investigations. We’re now active in 34 countries, and Adessium played a defining role in that journey. I truly believe we wouldn’t have come this far without them.”