First General Assembly of SAWEN held in Kathmandu by consensus adopted 'Kathmandu Declaration' to strengthen cooperation to combat illegal wildlife trade in South Asia.
- It announced that 30 January will be observed as 'SAWEN Day' every year.
- It also adopted SAWEN Implementation Plan 2026–2030.
Highlights of 'Kathmandu Declaration'
- Regional cooperation: Reaffirms commitment to prevent, detect, and suppress illegal wildlife trade.
- Concerns: Wildlife trade turning into complex transnational organized crime linked to corruption, illicit financial flows, digital tech misuse, and border vulnerabilities.
- Mechanism: Intelligence-based and financial investigations, anti-money laundering measures, asset recovery, and judicial action against organized networks.
- Capacity building: Address wildlife crime, bio-piracy, threats via science, tech, and regional knowledge exchange.
- Strengthen capacity and safety of rangers, customs, police, prosecutors, and frontline personnel.
Framework to Combat Illegal Wildlife Trade
- World
- Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, 1973 (CITES): Regulates/bans international trade in endangered species via Appendices I, II, III; India is a signatory.
- TRAFFIC: Wildlife trade monitoring network by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and IUCN
- India
- Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Provides for forfeiture of any equipment, used for committing wildlife offence(s).
- Wildlife Crime Control Bureau: Under Ministry of Environment and Forests to combat organized wildlife crime.
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