• Written by Remi Chandran

---

6 March 2013, Tokyo — The illegal wildlife trade brings in US$ billions per year while impeding
international efforts to conserve rare and endangered plants and animals. The true extent of this growing
plight, however, remains uncertain due to the lack of a universally implemented framework to monitor
wildlife crime and its transboundary syndicates.
Despite international enforcement, tracking the illicit value chain of wildlife poachers, traffickers and
consumers has been hindered by gaps in data sharing among agencies and countries. This poses a
potential threat to the success of Multilateral Environment Agreements (MEAs), which depend upon
accessible information flows among diverse parties including governments, international agencies,
research institutions, local communities and industry.
Today, wildlife experts, enforcement officials and government representatives are meeting in Bangkok
at a side event of the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP16) to the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The event — “Bytes Beyond
Borders: Strengthening Transboundary Information Sharing on Wildlife Crime through the Wildlife
Enforcement Monitoring System (WEMS) Initiative” — explores ways to tackle transboundary wildlife crime
using advanced technology collaborations.
In 2005, recognizing the need to overcome the data divides in wildlife crime enforcement, the United
Nations University (UNU) developed the prototype of a transboundary information-sharing platform. The
Wildlife Enforcement Monitoring System (WEMS) responds to the need for a regional governance model
to compile data on transboundary wildlife crime from national wildlife divisions and incorporate this
information in policy decision-making processes.
The WEMS initiative has since grown into a robust research partnership between the UNU Institute of
Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS), the Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC) at
the University of Twente, the Lusaka Agreement Task Force for Co-operative Enforcement Operations
Directed at Illegal Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora (LATF), and the Center for Geographic Analysis at Harvard
University.
Stressing the potential of WEMS, Prof. Govindan Parayil, UNU Vice-Rector and UNU-IAS Director, asserted
that “destruction of wildlife through illegal and criminal activities is a global issue that transcends national
boundaries and has become a threat to national security, preservation of biodiversity and the livelihoods of
millions of people. Combating illegal wildlife trade calls for collaboration and information sharing among
governments, NGOs, research institutions and enforcement officials”.
At its core, WEMS is a Geographic Information System-based initiative that measures and analyses data to
improve compliance monitoring for CITES. The technical infrastructure for WEMS, developed and hosted
by UNU, is a secure web-based database where partner agencies can upload data. The WEMS initiative
benefits from a foundation built upon interdisciplinary field research involving key stakeholders such as
enforcement officials, computer scientists, policymakers and civil society.
Fighting Wildlife Crime: Sharing Information Across Borders
Based on partner-government feedback, UNU redesigned the WEMS prototype in preparation for the
regional pilot phase implemented from 2011–2012 in Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and CongoBrazzaville) through the Lusaka Agreement. This project enabled governments to effectively and easily
share data on nearly 170 cases of wildlife crime extending beyond their borders, thus solidifying the
potential of WEMS as a practical framework in enforcement of and compliance with transboundary MEAs.
ITC Rector Tom Veldkamp noted that this inclusive strategy has been crucial to the project’s success,
emphasizing that “we cannot solve the challenges in transboundary information sharing on wildlife crime
through a vertical approach alone, as the problem itself lies in different spatial and governance scales.
Bridging the different agencies or actors also brings in divergent viewpoints, which are at times conflictive.
The success of WEMS-Africa has proven that it has overcome these challenges”.
According to Bonaventure Ebayi, Director of the Lusaka Agreement Task Force, “information is the
panacea for enhanced communication and collaboration. WEMS, as an effective information-sharing tool
that facilitates early interventions and preventative measures, thereby safeguarding our much-treasured
wildlife from illegal exploitation, and promotes good governance in wildlife conservation”.
Based on the positive outcome of WEMS in Africa, the ASEAN region is being considered for the project’s
next focus. The CoP16 side event brings together experts from CITES, the United Nations Environment
Programme, INTERPOL and enforcement officials from CITES member states to review current
developments of WEMS-Africa and explore the potential of WEMS-ASEAN.
Underlining the prospects of the initiative in ASEAN, Manop Lauprasert, Senior Officer of the ASEAN
Wildlife Enforcement Network’s Program Coordination Unit said that “the ASEAN region is rich in
biodiversity and home to many endangered species of wild fauna and flora, which are constantly under
threat of extinction caused by numerous factors which include their illegal exploitation and trade. Tackling
this issue will require the use of new tools and technologies that can support and respond to the needs of
ASEAN countries”.
UNU Vice-Rector Parayil affirmed UNU’s commitment to the project, saying, “I trust that the WEMS model
used in Africa will help build the necessary capacity and offer the technological infrastructure to support
ASEAN countries in fighting wildlife crime”.
By looking into the roles of potential actors partnering in such an ASEAN information-sharing platform, the
CoP16 side event offers insights on present research models. It further enables regional and international
experts to consider important questions surrounding the public accessibility of project data and how to
promote long-term sustainability in various contexts and countries.
For more information about the WEMS Initiative, please visit: http://www.wems-initiative.org or contact the
following representatives:
UNU-IAS: Ms. Makiko Arima, [email protected], +81 45 221 2300
ITC: Ms. Janneke Kalf, [email protected], +31 (0)53 4874 411
LATF: Mr. Tom Tiriongo, [email protected], +254 722 522 564
ASEAN-WEN: Mr. Chrisgel Ryan Cruz, [email protected], +66 84 323 6205