Environmental Enforcement Awards winners lauded
The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) congratulates the winners of the 5th Environmental Enforcement Awards, who were conferred by the UN Environment Program (UNEP) on government officials and teams that have excelled in enforcing laws against environmental crimes, such as illegal wildlife trafficking.
Unlawful wildlife trafficking has been reported as among the leading drivers of biodiversity loss and destruction of habitats in the ASEAN region.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC), wildlife and forest crime in the East Asia and Pacific region is generating around $19.5 billion every year, making it a “lucrative business” that is hard to detect.
In 2020, government institutions and officials from the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia successfully completed investigations and seizure operations against notorious wildlife traders, including illegal waste smuggling.
Based on the impact category, the Philippines Operation Group on Ivory and the Illegal Wildlife Trade (POGI) was recognized after it arrested a number of illegal traders and recovered 13 rare animals in a single operation.
Likewise, the Operasi Bersepadu Khazanah taskforce in Malaysia was also cited for arresting “87 wildlife criminals, destroying 460 wire snares, with total seizure amounting to MYR 2.7 million ($670,000).”
Wildlife and forest crime in the East Asia and Pacific region is generating around $19.5 billion every year.
Meanwhile, John Simon, district customs collector of the Bureau of Customs was given an award under the impact and integrity category for busting an illegal waste smuggling operation, seizing 10,000 tons of illegal waste and initiating legal proceedings against the smugglers, and to repatriate the waste back to the country of origin.
UNEP likewise recognized inter-agency and bilateral collaborations, such as the efforts of the Enforcement Division, Department of Environment, Malaysia, which worked closely with the authorities from the United Kingdom to repatriate 42 containers of smuggled plastic waste, and Indonesia’s police chief commissioner Adi Karya Tobing, police commissioner Sugeng Irianto and Rasio Ridho Sani, director general for law enforcement, who worked with Dutch authorities to crackdown a large-scale wildlife network that traffic body parts of endangered species.