Bangkok--4 Oct--Asian Institute of Technology
United Nations University (UNU) and the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) have signed a formal licensing agreement for implementation of a project that assists in monitoring of wildlife trafficking and illegal wildlife crime. Licensing rights for the software platform, "Wildlife Enforcement Monitoring System" (WEMS), have been granted to AIT by UNU on a non-transferable, royalty-free basis.
The agreement, signed by UNU Vice-Rector and Executive Officer Max Bond and AIT President Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai, seeks to bring together national enforcement institutions to a common data and reporting mechanism. This shall be an important activity that seeks to establish the WEMS-Asia Secretariat at AIT under the aegis of AIT Solutions.
In June 2016, AIT Solutions had proposed the establishment of the WEMS-Asia Secretariat at AIT, which was accepted by the AIT Management Team.
"Signing of the license agreement with UNU is in tune with AIT's commitment to advance sustainable development in the region," AIT Vice-President for Development Mr. Surendra Shrestha said. This will not only facilitate transcontinental collaboration with Africa and other continents on biodiversity management through capacity development, knowledge transference and outreach but also extend support to countries in monitoring Sustainable Development Goals", he added.
WEMS is a web-based information-sharing platform developed by UNU as a response to the UN member states' call for a common framework in collection, compilation, analysis and reporting of information related to enforcement of national legislations on wild fauna and flora protection as well as compliance with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and other relevant international conventions.
WEMS Asia will empower governments in Asia to monitor poaching and trafficking of wildlife and forest products, while facilitating cross-border and cross-continent collaborations, building capacity and catalysing knowledge transference targeted at undermining the multi-billion dollar illicit trade that is pushing many of the most iconic species to the brink of extinction.
WEMS has been successfully implemented in African countries, namely Congo-Brazzaville, Liberia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia through the Lusaka Agreement Task Force (LATF), the intergovernmental law enforcement institution which is also the Secretariat of the Lusaka Agreement on Cooperative Enforcement Operations Directed at Illegal Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora.
More details about WEMS is available at this link: http://www.wems-initiative.org/