Bangladesh Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Abdul Awal Mintoo has called for stronger regional cooperation in South Asia to combat the growing threat of transnational and organised wildlife crime.
Speaking at the first General Assembly of the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN) in Kathmandu on September 10, the minister stressed the need to strengthen regional intelligence sharing, coordinated law enforcement and joint operations.
He said wildlife and ecosystems do not recognise political borders, while criminal networks are increasingly using borders, transport routes, trade channels, online platforms and financial systems to conduct wildlife trafficking.
The minister called for law enforcement agencies to go beyond wildlife seizures and arrests and identify the organisers, financiers and wider criminal networks behind such crimes.
He also urged authorities to use every seizure as an opportunity to gather intelligence on the source, routes, people involved, financing and intended destinations.
Nepal’s House of Representatives Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal, Agriculture, Forest and Environment Minister Geeta Chaudhary, SAWEN Secretary General Dr Krishna Prasad Acharya, and representatives from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Pakistan, Maldives and Bangladesh attended the assembly.
