Union Cabinet gives nod to adaptation of South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network

April 13, 2016

The Union cabinet has given its formal approval for adopting the Statute of the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN).
With this, India will become member of SAWEN, a regional inter-governmental body in combating wildlife crime in the region and beyond.
By becoming member of SAWEN, India will strengthen its ties with the member countries for controlling the trans-boundary wildlife crimes through coordination, communication, collaboration, cooperation and capacity building in the region.
What is SAWEN?

SAWEN is regional inter-governmental wildlife law enforcement support body launched in January, 2011 in Paro, Bhutan.
It aims at working collectively as a strong regional inter-governmental body to combat wildlife crime by attainting common mutual goals and approaches for combating illegal trade in the region.
SAWEN’s regional network comprises of eight South Asia countries: Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives.

India has set following objectives to attain the goals

Take initiatives to bring standardization and harmonization in laws and policies of member countries concerned in conservation of fauna and flora.
Document the trend of illegal trade and poaching, and related threats to the natural biodiversity within and across countries in the region.
Strengthen institutional responses to combat wildlife crime by promoting research and information sharing, capacity building and training, technical support, sharing experiences and outreach.
Encourage member countries to prepare and implement their National Action Plans to curb wildlife crime and to collaborate towards effective implementation.

Background
South Asian region is very vulnerable to wildlife crimes and illegal traffic due to presence of precious biodiversity. It is mainly due to presence of large markets as well as traffic routes for wildlife products in the region. SAWEN was established for mutual collaboration for harmonising as well as enforcing the wildlife protection in the region for effective conservation of such precious biodiversity.

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