11 November 2013: During a workshop organized at the request of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Parties of West Asia, a process was agreed on strengthening regional cooperation in the fight against wildlife crime. The CITES parties discussed the need for and feasibility of establishing a regional network to coordinate the enforcement of laws that regulate trade in wildlife and to share intelligence.

The workshop was held from 29-31 October 2013, with the participation of CITES implementation and law enforcement representatives from Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The CITES parties elected a task force, inclusive of four countries, to prepare a proposal on the mechanism to establish a regional network to combat wildlife crime in West Asia, for consideration by each government.

John Scanlon, Secretary-General, CITES, renewed the Convention’s full support to initiatives led by CITES Parties to develop regional networks to enhance wildlife law enforcement. Kuwait offered to host the new network under the auspices of the Environment Public Authority.

Participants also included representatives of the CITES Secretariat, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the World Customs Organization (WCO), the International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO)-INTERPOL office in Kuwait, and the secretariats of two existing regional networks to combat wildlife crime – one for the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the other for the Horn of Africa.

The meeting was organized jointly by the Environment Public Authority of Kuwait, the CITES Secretariat and the West Asia Regional Office of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP-ROWA), with the financial support of the European Commission. [CITES News]