THE Duke of Cambridge, Prince William will next week visit Tanzania to raise awareness on the Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference that will be held next month in London.

A statement issued by the British High Commission in Dar es Salaam said that the two- day visit scheduled for September 26 and 27 will help to promote fight against illegal wildlife trade.

The Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference planned for October 11 and 12, this year, is aimed to strengthen international partnerships across borders and beyond and focus on three key themes including tackling Illegal Wildlife Trade as an organised crime, building coalitions and closing markets.

The statement said that during his visit, the Duke will meet and hold talks with President John Magufuli about the country's efforts in combating illegal wildlife trade.

It said the Duke will also visit the Dar es Salaam Port and Mpingo House where he will learn more about the work Tanzania is doing to combat illegal wildlife trade with support from the UK Government.

The UK Government is working to support the Tanzanian Government to combat illegal wildlife trade and other transnational organised crime, and support the fight against corruption.

It has provided scanners to Dar es Salaam Port and Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) to enable the country's authorities to intercept criminals smuggling drugs, ivory and other illegal commodities.

The UK is also building capacity to detect and prosecute wildlife-linked money-laundering in Tanzania and throughout East Africa. The Prince will also visit Namibia and Kenya to help bring attention to animal conservation efforts in the countries.

According to the UK government website, the conference will bring together global leaders to help eradicate illegal wildlife trade and better protect the world's most iconic species from the threat of extinction.

It said that the illegal wildlife trade (IWT) not only endangers some most iconic species of wildlife, but is a serious organised crime and damages the livelihoods of some of the world's poorest communities.

The 2018 London conference is an opportunity to build on previous efforts, address the underlying issues that facilitate it, and make steps to tackle the criminal trade.

The illegal wildlife trade is an urgent global issue, which not only threatens some of the world's most iconic species with extinction, but also damages sustainable economic growth and the livelihoods of vulnerable people in rural communities.