Fourth Meeting of SAWEN Held in Kolkata Details, Aim, About

Fourth Meeting of SAWEN Held in Kolkata-Details, Aim, About

The fourth meeting of South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN), an inter-governmental wildlife law enforcement agency was recently held in Kolkata, West Bengal.

It was the first meeting of SAWEN to be held in India since its inception in 2011.

SAWEN a two-day conference was attended by representatives of seven (excluding Pakistan) out of eight member countries.

SAWEN, undergone six proposals, including tracking of wildlife smuggling route, review of existing laws and structure for the organisation were tabled during the meeting. Participating countries also adopted many resolutions to curb wildlife crime in the region. They agreed on having an operational framework for strengthening the regional body to combat wildlife crime.

About South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN)

SAWEN is regional inter-governmental wildlife law enforcement support body of South Asian Countries. It was launched in January 2011 in Paro, Bhutan during the second meeting of the South Asia Expert Group on Illegal Wildlife Trade.

SAWEN secretariat is in Kathmandu, Nepal. Its regional network comprises of eight South Asia countries: Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

SAWEN is aimed at working collectively as a strong regional inter-governmental body to combat wildlife crime by attainting common mutual goals and approaches for combating illegal trade in the region. It also seeks to control trans-boundary wildlife crime through communication, coordination, collaboration, capacity building and cooperation in the region.