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Kathmandu (Nepal), 10 September:
Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Abdul Awal Mintoo has said that stronger regional cooperation is essential to combat wildlife crime in South Asia. He emphasized the need to strengthen regional intelligence-sharing, coordinated law enforcement, and joint operations to address the growing transnational and organized wildlife crime in the region.
The Minister made the remarks today while speaking at the first General Assembly of the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN), held in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.
The Minister said that wildlife and ecosystems do not recognize political borders. Criminal networks are conducting transnational wildlife trafficking by exploiting borders, transportation systems, commercial channels, online platforms, and financial systems.
The Minister said that law-enforcement activities should not be limited merely to seizing wildlife and arresting offenders. Authorities must also identify, investigate, and dismantle the organizers, financiers, and criminal networks behind these crimes. In his view, every seizure should be treated as an opportunity to gather intelligence\u2014determining where the wildlife came from, the routes used, who was involved, who financed the operation, and where the wildlife was being sent.
The Minister emphasized the importance of online monitoring, cyber investigations, and the use of digital evidence in combating online wildlife crime. At the same time, he called for the use of financial investigations, asset tracing, and anti-money-laundering measures, in accordance with national laws, in major wildlife crime cases.
The Minister also stressed the need to expand the use of wildlife forensics, DNA analysis, digital forensics, and geospatial technologies, alongside joint training and expert exchanges among member countries. He called for stronger regional cooperation in the rescue, rehabilitation, and repatriation of seized live wildlife.
Regarding the SAWEN Strategic Plan 2026\u20132030, the Minister said that the proposed strategic plan provides an important opportunity to translate these priorities into a specific and practical regional programme of action. Bangladesh supports a plan that gives priority to intelligence-sharing, law enforcement, criminal justice, digital and financial investigations, science and forensics, capacity development, and reducing demand for wildlife.
The Minister said that SAWEN\u2019s first General Assembly has created a unique opportunity to turn political commitments into concrete action. He expressed the hope that member countries would leave Kathmandu with a shared commitment to establish stronger intelligence-sharing mechanisms, carry out practical joint operations, and dismantle criminal networks that threaten wildlife.
The Minister reiterated that Bangladesh is ready to work with all SAWEN member countries, international organizations, and development partners to build a strong, interconnected, and effective regional wildlife law-enforcement system.
The conference was attended by Nepal\u2019s House of Representatives Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal, Nepal\u2019s Minister for Agriculture, Forest and Environment Gita Chaudhary, Secretary General of SAWEN Dr. Krisna Prasad Acharya and representatives from different organizations, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Pakistan, the Maldives, and Bangladesh.
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Kathmandu (Nepal), 10 September:Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Abdul Awal Mintoo has said that stronger regional cooperation is essential to combat wildlife crime in South Asia. He emphasized the need to strengthen regional intelligence-sharing, coordinated law enforcement, and joint operations to address the growing transnational and organized wildlife crime in the region.The Minister made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english-news"],"yoast_head":"\n