Ivory Trafficking Arrest Follows ASEAN-WEN Facilitated International Investigation

Police arrest and search the home of alledged international
ivory traffickers in Bangkok. 

A year-long joint Thai-U.S. investigation facilitated through the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN) resulted in the arrest of two Thai nationals in Bangkok on November 16, 2009, for alleged involvement in illegal trafficking of African elephant ivory from Thailand into the United States. More than 10 metric tons of endangered African elephant ivory has been seized in Southeast Asia over the past year, but no traffickers had been arrested until Thai Police acted on evidence gathered on both sides of the Pacific. More than 180 print and online news publications around the world, including the Washington Post, covered this cooperative enforcement success.

ASEAN trains park rangers to combat illegal wildlife trade

Rangers catch their breath during the Enforcement Ranger Basic Training
Course at Khao Yai National Park, Thailand.

The ASEAN-WEN and ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) organized a demonstration “Enforcement Ranger Basic Training Course” at Khao Yai National Park in Thailand from November 9th to 23rd, 2009, involving senior forest protection officials from Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand. The demonstration counter-poaching operations training and the following protected area enforcement capacity building workshop aim to help guide standardization and replication of effective patrolling and wildlife law enforcement development in parks and forest reserves across the region, utilizing ACB competency standards for protected area law enforcement jobs. Hosted by Thailand's Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) and conducted by FREELAND Foundation with funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and European Union-assisted ACB, as well as in-kind support from Thailand's DNP, the intensive two-week demonstration course covered first aid, navigation, weapons handling, patrolling operations, hostile engagement and arrests.

Surge in Animal Rescues by ASEAN Authorities  

More than 7,785 live animals were rescued by Southeast Asian Authorities from illegal trade in 35 major wildlife law enforcement actions across the region between July 1 and September 30, 2009, according to reports received by the ASEAN-WEN Program Coordination Unit. This number surpasses the 5,296 animals reported rescued during the previous quarter. Over the three-month period, authorities arrested 23 suspects in connection with major seizures of protected wildlife and recovered more than 1,622 dead animals, animal parts and derivatives, including several large shipments of ivory reported to be of African origin. More details on major and model illegal wildlife trade interdictions by Southeast Asian law enforcement are available in the quarterly ASEAN-WEN Action Update (Jul-Sept 2009) is available in the Resources-Section on the ASEAN-WEN website. The final quarterly Action Update for 2009 will be released soon.

Identification Guides for Protected Species Commonly Found in Trade in Southeast Asia

Cover of the Species ID Guides designed for use by Southeast Asian
enforcement rangers. 

The ASEAN-WEN has developed a set of easy-to-use species identification guides to help Southeast Asia’s CITES Management Authority, Police, Customs and other enforcement officers as they inspect shipments of wildlife and derivative products to check if they comply with legislation. The guides will help busy frontline enforcement officers determine whether a species is being transported legally, and, if not, how to seek specialist help. Compiled by experts from TRAFFIC Southeast Asia with support from USAID, the species identification guides are currently available in English and will soon be also available in Bahasa Malaysia, Bahasa Indonesia, Burmese, Khmer, Lao, Filipino, Thai and Vietnamese. The English version of these Species ID Guides can be downloaded from the ASEAN-WEN website.

ASEAN-WEN Helps Launch New Wildlife Conservation Awareness Campaigns in Lao PDR and Thailand

Billboard displayed in Vientiane during 25th Southeast Asian Games and the
billboard above Bangkok’s ChatuchakMarket, small photo.
(Photo courtesy, small photo: TRAFFIC Southeast Asia)


The ASEAN-WEN, together with the Lao PDR Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and more than a dozen other organizations, launched a striking visual campaign to raise awareness on the issue of wildlife trafficking among residents and visitors to Lao PDR. Launched to coincide with the 25th Southeast Asian Games in Vientiane, the campaign begins to replicate an extensive national airport, border checkpoint and urban public awareness campaign conducted by the USAID-funded ASEAN-WEN Support Program in neighboring Thailand. Meanwhile, ASEAN-WEN has joined key partners including Thailand’s private sector, to display a large billboard warning consumers not to buy illegal wildlife above a main thoroughfare at Bangkok’s Chatuchak market - one of Southeast Asia’s largest markets for wildlife. These successful multi-stakeholder public awareness campaigns have the potential to be further replicated and adapted in other ASEAN countries.

ASEAN-WEN reaches out across Asia to help strengthen cooperative response to wildlife crime

The ASEAN-WEN continues to join major global and regional conferences to enhance networking and cooperation with agencies and organizations to tackle the international illegal trade in protected species.

Global Tiger Workshop (Kathmandu)

ASEAN-WEN representatives and workshop participants surrounding Mr. Pimuk Simaroj, Vice- Minister of MONRE (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment), fifth from left, in Kathmandu.

The ASEAN-WEN joined hundreds of stakeholders from 20 countries in Kathmandu from October 26-31, 2009, to hash out an emergency plan to halt the rapid decline of the wild Tiger. The resulting “Kathmandu Declaration” includes 17 key recommendations. All participant countries were urged to fully implement CITES resolutions and support and engage with regional wildlife enforcement networks like the ASEAN-WEN to effectively combat the illegal trade in wildlife. The Kathmandu Declaration can be downloaded from the Global Tiger Initiative website.

ASEAN Conference on Biodiversity (Singapore)

Representatives from the ASEAN-WEN and ASEAN governments met with scientists, researchers and non-government organizations at the first ASEAN Conference on Biodiversity in Singapore from October 21-23, 2009. The conference was a chance for the ASEAN-WEN to establish new contacts and reemphasize the importance of building capacity to enforce national and international laws designed to protect Southeast Asia's rich biodiversity.

Workshop on Forest Police Enforcement Experiences (Xinjiang)

The importance of strengthening relations between Chinese officials and the ASEAN-WEN was highlighted at the Workshop on Forest Police Enforcement Experiences on Endangered Wildlife Species from October 24-27, 2009. Participants requested more cross-border cooperation through ASEAN-WEN to facilitate the exchange of information and joint efforts to build law enforcement capacity and support for the fight against illegal wildlife trade.

Asia Regional Partners Forum on Combating Environmental Crimes Meeting (Bangkok)

Mr. Atul Bagai, Regional Officer Compliance Assistance Programme
for UNEP, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, in front of the
billboard on illegal wildlife trade displayed at the ARPEC Awareness Exhibition.

The ASEAN-WEN attended the Asia Regional Partners Forum on Combating Environmental Crimes (ARPEC) on November 17, 2009, together with other regional initiatives and ARPEC partners to discuss best practices and expertise on how to combat environmental crimes such as illegal trade in wildlife, illegal fishing, illegal logging, illegal trade in ozone depleting substances (ODS) and in hazardous waste. The forum’s awareness exhibition, displayed at Bangkok’s Emporium Shopping Complex, included a billboard on illegal trade in wildlife in Southeast Asia and showed the ASEAN-WEN’s Public Service Announcement on wildlife trafficking through airports.

CITES-INTERPOL Law Enforcement Intelligence Training (Jakarta)

A CITES/INTERPOL Law Enforcement Intelligence Training for Tiger Range States was held in Jakarta, Indonesia from November 30 to December 4, 2009, with 16 law enforcement officials from Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Nepal, Russia Thailand, Vietnam and ASEAN-WEN representatives attending. The workshop focused on intelligence analysis to help enforcement officers from different agencies work together to investigate and solve wildlife crimes.