SAWEN

India has decided to become a member of SAWEN

SAWEN is regional inter-governmental wildlife law enforcement support body launched in January, 2011 in Paro, Bhutan.

Its secretariat is in Kathmandu, Nepal.

It aims 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.

SAWEN’s regional network comprises of eight South Asia countries: Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives

India’s motive: By becoming member of SAWEN, India will strengthen its ties with the member countries for controlling the trans-boundary wildlife crimes through coordination, communication, collaboration, cooperation and capacity building in the region.

Context:  South Asian region is very vulnerable to wildlife crimes and illegal traffic due to presence of precious biodiversity. It is mainly due to presence of large markets as well as traffic routes for wildlife products in the region. SAWEN was established for mutual collaboration for harmonising as well as enforcing the wildlife protection in the region for effective conservation of such precious biodiversity.