Every year, millions of dollars worth of illegally harvested animal and plant species are trafficked and sold in Southeast Asia.

ASEAN-Wildlife Enforcement Network Support Program

BACKGROUND

Illegal wildlife trade is among the world’s largest criminal activities. In Southeast Asia, the problem is particularly acute because of the region's rich biodiversity, its well-developed transport infrastructure, and weak wildlife law enforcement.

Wildlife trafficking is threatening irrevocable damage to Southeast Asia’s ecosystems. Wildlife traffickers operate within and between countries, through well-organized, cross-border networks. To effectively combat their operations, law-enforcement and environmental-management agencies are recognizing the need to form national, regional and international networks to investigate and eliminate large-scale illegal wildlife crime.

Until recently, collaborative networks between wildlife law-enforcement agencies were unknown in Southeast Asia. The region’s governments are now taking bold action to create vital cooperative links.

The initiative began in October 2004 with Thailand proposing the creation of a regional wildlife law enforcement network at the 13th Conference of the Parties to the Convention in Trade of Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES). This groundbreaking call to action implemented key components of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (ASEAN) Regional Action Plan on Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora 2005-2010 and marked the first decisive step toward regional wildlife enforcement. Cooperative efforts took another step forward in December 2005 when senior ASEAN officials launched the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN).

USAID supports the initiative with assistance designed to make ASEAN-WEN a fully fledged transnational network against wildlife crime.

APPROACH

ASEAN-WEN engages all 10 ASEAN countries, China, and the United States, and works at both the national and regional levels. At the national level, participant governments create interagency task forces that involve police, customs, and CITES officers. These task forces work to strengthen law enforcement and comply with CITES protocols. At the regional level, task forces also serve as focal points in the battle against transnational wildlife crime, exchanging vital intelligence between countries about cross-border syndicates.

ASEAN-WEN is the only nature crime network in the world that involves participation by numerous countries and agencies. Recognizing this, the Environmental Cooperation-Asia (ECO-Asia) ASEAN-WEN Support Program focuses support at three critical levels:

• Development and capacity building for national wildlife crime task forces;
• Regional cooperation and interaction among task forces; and
• Collaboration with the global law enforcement community.

Program activities include:

Agency Surveys
The compilation of wildlife law enforcement data in participating countries provides essential baseline data for measuring ASEAN-WEN impacts and successes. Surveys identify potential task force participants and help set priorities for training and capacity building activities.

Training and Capacity Building
Specific courses and workshops provide the means to sustain effective wildlife law enforcement. Training packages, produced in local languages, are designed to address gaps in wildlife law enforcement.

Public Awareness
Increased public understanding about the illegal wildlife trade and civil society support are essential for addressing wildlife crime. Nongovernmental, media and corporate organizations play a helpful role by providing additional support and positive publicity for ASEAN-WEN.

Regional Meetings and Cooperative Events
Gatherings between policy stakeholders and national task forces enable the network’s development. During these events, various ASEAN-WEN participants share information, plan cross-border operations, and discuss mutual challenges.

The 10 ASEAN member countries, China and the U.S. work together through ASEAN-WEN. The network also is working with other countries linked to Southeast Asia’s trade, including Japan, South Korea, Australia, the African states, and the European Union.

IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS

Wildlife Alliance, Freeland Foundation Thailand (formerly PeunPa), TRAFFIC, ASEAN, Government of Thailand, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Forest Service, CITES Secretariat

CONTACT

Winston H. Bowman
Director, Regional Environment Office
U.S. Agency for International Development, Regional Development Mission for Asia
GPF Witthayu Tower A, 93/1 Wireless Road
Bangkok 10330 Thailand
Office: (66-2) 263-7400
Fax: (66-2) 263-7499
E-mail: wbowman@usaid.gov

FURTHER READING

• ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network Support Program (ASEAN-WEN) (584 KB PDF)
• USAID Supports Campaign at Bangkok's Airport to Thwart Wildlife Traffickers (126 KB PDF)