Bangkok--17 Jul--FREELAND Foundation
The top brass of ASEAN's regional law making body met with FREELAND Foundation this week to hear how they could help reverse the decline of endangered species. The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA)’s Executive Committee gave the floor of the widely attended, high level 10 country meeting in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, to FREELAND to present an update on the illegal wildlife trade in Southeast Asia that is affecting wild animal and plant populations worldwide.
FREELAND is leading an unprecedented partnership of government and civil society groups to protect Asia’s biodiversity from poaching and illegal wildlife trade. ARREST (Asia’s Regional Response to Endangered Species Trafficking) is a five-year program focused on reducing consumer demand; strengthening law enforcement; and boosting regional cooperation and anti-trafficking networks. ARREST was designed by FREELAND and is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Following the briefing, senior lawmakers, including speakers, presidents of national assemblies and a deputy speaker from ASEAN spoke up in favor of strengthening and harmonizing legislation and supporting wildlife crime task forces operating under the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN).
Thailand’s National Assembly delegation reaffirmed the government’s full support for ARREST initiatives presented by FREELAND. Thailand will assume leadership of Southeast Asia’s inter-governmental network for fighting wildlife crime - the ASEAN-WEN - in 2013.
Some delegations also expressed interest in joining a large-scale public awareness campaign with FREELAND and its partners WildAid and ASEAN-WEN.
AIPA will hold a General Assembly in September and vote on the Executive Committee approved resolution to step up efforts across the region to curb wildlife crime, including new parliamentary task forces to review and strengthen national laws.
For more information and high-resolution photos, contact FREELAND Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer Brian Gonzales via +66-2-204-2720 or
[email protected]