Workshop on Illegal Wildlife Trade for Central Asia
The issue of illegal wildlife trade cuts across international boundaries and needs to be addressed at the transnational and regional level. A regional workshop is scheduled on the 17th and 18th of September, 2015 in Kyrgyzstan to assess the current status of illegal wildlife trade in Central Asia, and understand the opportunities and gaps.
The workshop will be organized by the State Agency on Environment Protection and Forestry under the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic and co-organized by GSLEP Secretariat, Global Environment Facility, Interpol, Snow Leopard Trust (SLT) and United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
Introduction and background
Poaching and illegal wildlife trade (IWT) in the recent times led to local and global extinction of several species such as the tiger in several parts of its range, Sumatran rhino and Pyrenean ibex. Issues pertaining to IWT are considered low priority by law enforcement agencies and often don’t get due attention or resources. Also, as there is never a first of kin to report poaching or illegal trafficking in wildlife, these crimes often go undetected.
The illegal trade in snow leopard, its body parts, and derivatives, and its prey pose a serious threat to conservation of wildlife in the high altitude mountain ecosystems in Asia. Monitoring this crime can be difficult and an increase in reports of wildlife crime is not always synonymous to increase in wildlife crime. However there are methods in statistical modelling that can individually estimate probabilities of occurrence of wildlife crime and those of detecting it. The Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP) as well as the Snow Leopard Survival Strategy (2014) enlist illegal wildlife trade as one of the key threats facing snow leopard and its prey in the mountain ecosystems represented by 12 countries.
A number of enforcement agencies and organizations are mandated to control and monitor wildlife crime at the national, regional and international level. A multi-agency approach is required at the national and transnational level for best utilization of the expertise of each of the agencies and to ensure minimum waste in resources through duplication of efforts.
With the aim to achieve this multi-agency approach, it is proposed that a workshop should be planned on wildlife trade, bringing together all the relevant stakeholders The first workshop can be organized at a regional scale in Central Asia, followed by another similar workshop in the near future that brings together representatives from all snow leopard range countries.
A two day long workshop is proposed in Kyrgyzstan during the second half of September 2015. This workshop will bring together the four Central Asian snow leopard range countries to assess the current status, and understand the opportunities and gaps in the region.
Workshop goal:
The issue of illegal wildlife trade cuts across international boundaries and needs to be addressed at the transnational and regional level. A regional workshop is scheduled on the 17th and 18th of September, 2015 in Kyrgyzstan to assess the current status of illegal wildlife trade in Central Asia, and understand the opportunities and gaps.
Workshop objectives:
This workshop is organised with the aim to:
- Understand the extent of illegal trade in the region.
- Assess existing legal systems, identify loopholes and evaluate conviction rates.
- Encourage multi-agency collaboration Prioritise information collection and sharing at the national and transnational level
- Develop a strategic plan for monitoring and enforcing wildlife crime.
Participation
The meeting participants may include officials from the State Agency for Environment Protection and Forestry (SAEPF), Department of Protected Areas of Kyrgyzstan, Department of Customs, Border Security Agency, Police, Department of Hunting, CITES, prosecutors and other enforcement agencies from within Kyrgyzstan. Additionally, two (or more, depending on budget available) officials each can be invited from the three Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) to attend the workshop. A UNDP consultant could also be available to assist in the orientation workshop if needed. The workshop can be attended by representatives from other non-governmental organizations working in the field of IWT such as WWF, TRAFFIC, NABU, FFI, GIZ, Environment Investigation Agency, Snow Leopard Foundation-Kyrgyzstan and Snow Leopard Trust. It is hoped that INTERPOL will be able to lead several aspects of the workshop.
Key expected deliverables:
- Blueprint of improved support to on-ground rangers and coordination between multiple agencies to increase effectiveness of IWT prevention in the region
- Better monitoring framework proposed for implementation and broader discussions in the follow-up range level meeting
- Key outputs shared with other SL range countries via GSLEP Secretariat
Working languages:
English and Russian (with simultaneous interpretations).
Draft program
Time |
Day 0: Wednesday, September 16, 2015 |
Facilitator |
| Arrival and registration of participants | ||
Time |
Day 1: Thursday, September 16, 2015 |
Facilitator |
| 08:00 – 09:00 | Registration | Snow Leopard Secretariat staff |
| 09:00 – 10:00 | Opening ceremony (KS) | SAEPF, KyrgyzstanUNDP, INTERPOL, TRAFFIC
GSLEP Secretariat |
| 10:00 – 11:00 | Introductions | GSLEP Secretariat |
| 11:00 – 11:30 | Coffee break | |
| 11:30 – 13:00 | Country reportsKazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan Russia Uzbekistan Each country will get 20 minutes to provide a brief update |
UNDP |
| 13:00 -14:00 | Lunch | |
| 14:00 – 14:15 | Assignment of break-out group and facilitators for each group | GSLEP Secretariat |
| 14:15 – 15:30 | Break out group discussions:Identification of primary enforcement issues
Legal loopholes and prosecution issues Collaboration issues in transnational cases Assessment of enforcement needs |
GSLEP SecretariatGroup facilitators |
| 15:30 – 15:45 | Coffee break | |
| 15:45 -17:00 | Results of group discussions and need for a joint enforcement strategy | INTERPOL |
Time |
Day 2: Friday, September 17, 2015 |
Facilitator |
| 09:00-11:00 | Group work on joint enforcement strategy | Group facilitators |
| 11:00-11:30 | Coffee break | |
| 11:30 – 13:00 | Finalization of enforcement strategy | INTERPOLUNDP |
| 13:00-14:00 | Lunch | |
| 14:00 – 14:45 | Wildlife crime reporting and use of monitoring tools | Snow Leopard Trust |
| 14:45 – 15:30 | Supporting countries in Central Asia to develop an information sharing coordination mechanism between governmental and non-governmental agencies | Snow Leopard Trust |
| 15:30- 16:00 | Coffee break | |
| 14:00-16:00 | Parallel session for Kyrgyzstan
National environmental Security Seminar |
INTERPOLUNDP |
| 16:00 – 17:00 | Strategic recommendations and next steps | GSLEP SecretariatINTERPOL |
Day 3: Saturday, 19 September 2015 |
||
| Departures | ||
Venue: City Hotel Bishkek
