SAWEN’s Kathmandu Declaration Prioritises Cross-Border Cooperation Against Wildlife Crime
Dragon Media Correspondent
The first General Assembly of the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network, SAWEN, has adopted a 12-point Kathmandu Declaration aimed at strengthening regional cooperation to combat wildlife crime and illegal wildlife trade.
Government representatives from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka participated in the two-day General Assembly held in Kathmandu on Thursday and Friday. Concluding that wildlife crime cannot be effectively controlled by any single country acting alone, the assembly prioritised cross-border information and intelligence sharing, coordinated law enforcement and cooperation in criminal justice.
The declaration also includes commitments to strengthen financial investigations linked to wildlife crime, improve the safety of rangers and frontline personnel, expand the use of modern technology, enhance research and knowledge management, and deepen international cooperation.
It further calls for public awareness campaigns to reduce demand for illegally traded wildlife products, greater attention to crimes involving marine and freshwater wildlife, and stronger institutional coordination and regular information sharing among member states.
The General Assembly also decided to observe January 30 every year as “SAWEN Day,” marking the date on which the network was formally established in Bhutan in 2011.
A three-year programme and budget covering the period from 2026/27 to 2028/29 were also approved. Priority areas include regional law enforcement and intelligence cooperation, criminal justice, capacity building, marine and freshwater wildlife crime, international cooperation, research and knowledge management, demand-reduction campaigns and institutional strengthening.
To reinforce SAWEN’s institutional foundation, member states also agreed to begin making annual financial contributions from January 1, 2027. The network will continue to operate on the basis of member-state ownership, support from the host country and external financial and technical cooperation.
Minister for Agriculture, Forests and Environment Geeta Chaudhary said the major challenge now is to translate the decisions of the General Assembly into practical action. She stressed that the success of the Kathmandu Declaration would not be measured by written commitments alone, but by the concrete steps member states take after leaving Kathmandu.
SAWEN Secretary General Krishna Prasad Acharya said the General Assembly had established a clear direction for future cooperation and that the next priority was to convert regional coordination and commitments into measurable results.
Bangladesh’s Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Abdul Awal Mintoo, said the cross-border nature of wildlife crime makes it impossible for any single country to tackle the problem effectively on its own. He emphasised the need to use SAWEN to strengthen information exchange, law enforcement, institutional capacity and mutual trust across South Asia.
The Kathmandu Declaration represents an effort to bring South Asian countries into a stronger common security and legal framework against the expanding illegal wildlife trade. Its effectiveness, however, will ultimately depend on how successfully member states implement intelligence sharing, financial investigations, cross-border enforcement and collective responsibility in the years ahead.
