ASEAN, partners to stop illegal wildlife trade

With illegal trade in wildlife estimated at over $10 billion across Asia, the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) governments and international partners have signed a manifesto to stop illegal wildlife trade and arrest traffickers in the region.
The signing of the new wildlife Manifesto, "Combating Wildlife Crime in Asia," marked the conclusion of the two-day ASEAN-Wildlife Enforcement Network Conference which was participated in by ASEAN government delegations and representatives from about 20 countries, including 10 non-ASEAN countries, international organizations, and numerous non-government organizations active in wildlife and biodiversity preservation.
Dubbed "A Forgotten Crisis: Arresting Wildlife Depletion through Strengthened Partnerships and Regional Cooperation," the meeting was held in Pattaya, Thailand from April 10 to 12 amid the massive anti-government protests.
"The Manifesto will help develop the Southeast Asia and South Asia wildlife enforcement networks into fully effective and sustainable platforms. These will have specially trained wildlife crime task forces within the national police forces and other enforcement agencies to track, monitor, investigate and share cross-border information and to stop illegal wildlife trade and arrest traffickers in the region," the ASEAN Secretariat said in a statement.
ASEAN-WEN is the region’s largest environmental law-enforcement network. It links scores of environmental agencies, police organizations, customs bureaus and members of the judiciary from all 10 ASEAN member countries to share intelligence, conduct investigations, and train officers to combat wildlife trafficking and implement international and national laws regulating wildlife trade.
The ASEAN Secretariat noted that over $10 billion illegal trade in wildlife has thrived across Asia, second only to weapons and drug smuggling.
ASEAN Secretary-General Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, one of the supporters of the new manifesto, urged ASEAN governments and international partners to carefully protect the "unique, diverse, and rich" biodiversity in the region as he thanked World Bank for extending assistance to the ASEAN-WEN for wildlife protection.
"We must all work together to conserve our natural heritage. I commend the World Bank for its strong support to ASEAN-WEN to prevent and combat against the threat to the wildlife of ASEAN and Asia," he said.
For his part, Thai Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Suwit Khunkitti said: "Just as the financial crisis has shown that our economies are all intricately related, wildlife crime and its impacts are cross-border and global. All Asian countries, as well as non-Asian countries, must come together to solve this forgotten crisis."
The Thai Ministry offered to set up a ministerial steering group of tiger range states this year, which is a significant change and signals high-level political support for the recommendations of the Manifesto.
Last year, the World Bank launched the Global Tiger Initiative, along with the Smithsonian Institution, the Global Environment Facility, and the International Tiger Coalition, as an international collaborative platform dedicated to saving wild tigers and mainstreaming biodiversity.
Preparations for the Year of the Tiger Summit in 2010 are underway as the meeting will bring high-level political commitment to save the wild tigers, Asia’s religious and cultural icon, and the symbol of environmental sustainability.
"Despite the efforts of individual governments and conservation organizations, wild tigers and many other endangered wildlife species are silently disappearing from the Asian landscape.
By CHARISSA M. LUCI, Manila Bulletin
April 15, 2009, 5:36pm

(Note: The wildlife crime and illegal trade of wildlife part and products is the biggest problem in conserving our depleting natural resources all over Asia. There was a three days workshop on 'combating wildlife crime in South East Asian and South Asia' in Pattaya, Thailand, attended by the representative of 21 countries and various NGOs and IGOs.--Ramesh Pandey)