Events

International Technical Workshop "A Forgotten Crisis:  Arresting Wildlife Depletion in Asia through Strengthened Regional Cooperation and Effective Partnerships"

Co-Hosts: ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN) Support Program and The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Kingdom of Thailand


Organizing Support: The World Bank, Save the Tiger Fund, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), ASEAN-WEN Support Program


Venue: Montien Hotel, Pattaya, Thailand

Date: April 10-13, 2009 (in parallel with the ASEAN Global Dialogue Partners Meeting)

Participants: National wildlife management and enforcement organizations of the ASEAN Member-States and other interested countries, Multilateral and bilateral Organizations, United Nations (UN) agencies, Asia Regional governmental organizations, and non-governmental organization (NGOs) working on wildlife protection.

Purpose:


While the world focuses on the current financial crisis, the rapid depletion of another type of stocks -- biodiversity is receiving little attention.  Unfortunately wild animal populations  such as tigers and other endangered species may never rebound after reaching such critically low levels.  Urgent action is needed because extinction is forever.

Asia's unique wild plant and animal life are paying a steep price in return for unsustainable and unprecedented development, population growth, and human activity. The Royal Thai Government recognizes that protecting the region's biodiversity from threats such as poaching and the illegal wildlife trade must be multi-sectoral, multi-agency, and global in scale. While approaches to reverse climate change and protect habitat are important, the world must not forget about one of the most perilous threats destroying Asia's natural resources the illegal wildlife trade. 

This International Workshop will be the premier venue for policymakers, senior government officials, scientists and technical experts, NGOs and other stakeholders to come together to share knowledge and experiences, and engage in dynamic discussions on trends, issues and concerns related to building a region-wide platform for capacity building, strategic action and cooperation to support the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN) and other initiatives in Asia that aim to conserve tigers and other critically endangered species and their habitats.  The workshop's timing in parallel with the ASEAN Global Dialogue Partners Meeting would also help generate important momentum in mobilizing political will and support to critical national, regional and international actions in Asia in the run-up to 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity and the Year of the Tiger Summit.

Carrying the theme, "A Forgotten Crisis: Arresting Wildlife Depletion in Asia through Strengthened Regional Cooperation and Effective Partnerships", this International Workshop will highlight initiatives and good practices covering key aspects of wildlife law enforcement, wildlife conservation and how inter-regional, inter-agency and multi-sectoral partnerships are contributing toward the attainment of regional and international environmental efforts. It will map out future actions to ensure collaboration between all interested parties and develop opportunities for targeted interaction with related programs in the area of regional cooperation, with the focus on eliminating the illegal trade of endangered species (and special emphasis on tigers as a flagship or "umbrella" species).

An important task of the workshop will be to review, modify and take action on a draft "Manifesto on Combating Wildlife Crime in Asia"[1]. This is considered a critical contribution to raising the bar for dealing with this "forgotten crisis" by calling for high level political commitment to fight wildlife crime, with the aim of having progress to report in 2010 at the CITES Conference of the Parties, the Year of the Tiger Summit, and the CBD Conference of the Parties (Countdown 2010).  Two side discussions will focus on: (i) Sustaining the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network and building its effectiveness through the best implementation and other relevant instruments of regional cooperation, including new collaboration with partners in South Asia; and (ii) national perspectives on the preparation of the 2010 Year of the Tiger Summit.

The International Workshop will be co-hosted by the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand through the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) and the ASEAN-WEN Support Program. It is being organized by the ASEAN-WEN Program Coordination Unit (PCU) and the ASEAN-WEN Support Program (FREELAND Foundation and TRAFFIC) together with the World Bank, Royal Thai Government, and the US Agency for International Development (USAID).  The agenda is being developed in coordination with the CITES Secretariat, Interpol, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Detailed information will be soon available. This advance notification is intended for you or your organization to plan for possible participation.


To confirm your organization's interest to take part in this workshop, please email your name, brief description of your organization, full contact information and number of representatives to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Travel subsidy may be available to government and some NGO representatives.