23 October 2015: Marking International Snow Leopard Day, which coincides with the adoption of the Bishkek Declaration on the Conservation of the Snow Leopard on 23 October 2013, INTERPOL released an enforcement strategy to combat illegal wildlife trade in Central Asia.

The ‘Regional Enforcement Strategy to Combat Illegal Wildlife Trade in Central Asia 2015-2018’ was developed at the first-ever regional workshop on combating illegal wildlife trade in Central Asia, held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on 17-18 September 2015, and supported by INTERPOL, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), Panthera, the Snow Leopard Trust, and the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystems Protection Program (GSLEP). The enforcement strategy calls for establishing the Snow Leopard and Wildlife Enforcement Network (SLAWEN), and provides an overview of its strategic direction and key focal areas for the period 2015-2018.

The Global Environment Facility (GEF), also celebrating the International Day, highlighted its project portfolio related to snow leopards, which includes 22 projects with a GEF grant of approximately US$100 million. The recently approved GEF Regional Project on ‘Transboundary Cooperation on Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Conservation’ seeks to enhance coordination among the ten related national GEF projects that are recently approved for GEF-5 and GEF-6 financial resources, and provides a common framework among the national-level GEF projects to collectively secure 23 key snow leopard landscapes. [Publication: Regional Enforcement Strategy to Combat Illegal Wildlife Trade in Central Asia 2015 – 2018] [INTERPOL Press Release] [Congo Basin Forest Partnership Press Release] [IISD RS Story on Regional Technical Workshop] [Snow Leopard Trust Press Release on Workshop] [IISD RS Story on 2014 International Snow Leopard Day] [IISD RS Story on 2013 Declaration Adoption] [GEF Press Release]