The meeting aims to agree on the structure, functions and operational parameters of a regional wildlife law enforcement network in South Asia, including the location of a regional coordinating unit to support the network. Most importantly, the meeting will set priority actions between the countries of the region to combat wildlife crime. [break]
Nepal government is also making efforts to set up a regional secretariat of wildlife crime control with headquarters in Kathmandu.
Participants include representatives of eight countries of South Asia, except the Maldives. It has also drawn participation from national CITES management authority, customs, police and other agencies engaged in wildlife law enforcement.
On the first day of the meeting, each country shared its experience with illegal wildlife trade and prioritizing issues of immediate concern, and contributed ideas on the make-up of a regional network to combat wildlife crime.
The Experts Group will also benefit from the inputs from the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC), including from ICPO-Interpol, the UN office on Drugs and Crime and the World Customs Organization.
In the next two days´ deliberations, experiences from the neighboring Southeast Asian region through the work of ASEAN´s Wildlife Enforcement Network will also provide lessons learned from similar process of inter-governmental actions against wildlife trade.
Earlier, speaking at the inaugural session of the meeting, Minister for Forests and Soil Conservation Deepak Bohara said, “The gravity of the situation is clear -- the time for action is now.”
Bohara added, “Wildlife trade now has no borders and thus a regional action is a must.”
“Even while we were pushing for this meeting to happen, Nepal has lost two rhinos due to illegal poaching in Chitwan,” Bohara stressed.
South Asia´s richness in biodiversity makes the region a target for poachers and traffickers of wildlife. Tigers and other Asian big cats, rhino, marine and freshwater turtles, parrots, pangolins and red sanders are some species rapidly depleting due to illegal extraction and smuggling.
“Illegal trade involves trans-boundary landscapes and habitats, movements of people and goods across porous borders, and is increasingly characterized by organized criminal syndicates working in more than one country,” Yuba Raj Bhusal, secretary of MoFSC, said.
The meeting is hosted by MoFSC and supported by Department of Forests, Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, the National Trust for Nature Conservation, WWF Nepal and TRAFFIC International. Funding has been given by the US State Department.
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