Workshop on engaging local communities to help combat illegal wildlife trade in Southeast Asia: call for contributions
Hanoi, Viet Nam, 3rd September 2016—A call for contributions to a workshop focusing on the key role of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in helping curb wildlife trafficking was announced today by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the IUCN CEESP/SSC Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Specialist Group (IUCN SULi), the International Institute of Environment and Development (IIED), TRAFFIC and other partners.
The meeting will take place from 15-16th November 2016 and will focus on Southeast Asia, in particular the Lower Mekong Region, and aims to improve understanding and guidance on how Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities can be engaged as active partners in protecting wildlife against illegal trade in the region.
This vital role has been increasingly recognized in a number of international agreements to combat illegal wildlife trade including the London Declaration, the African Elephant Summit, the Kasane Declaration, the Brazzaville Declaration and the African Union Strategy.
The meeting will build upon an international symposium on the topic held in Muldersdrift, South Africa, in February 2015, and a first regional workshop for West and Central Africa that was hosted in Limbe, Cameroon, in February this year.
Organizers are now calling for analyses, case studies and in particular successful experiences from Southeast Asia where Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities have played a leading role in helping tackle illegal wildlife trade.
This workshop is supported by the Austrian Ministry of the Environment; the German Polifund project, implemented by GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), and the Wildlife Trafficking Response, Assessment and Priority Setting (Wildlife TRAPS) Project, supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
