Britain to Support Cambodia in Drafting Wildlife LawThe British Embassy to Cambodia announced on Wednesday that it will fund assistance, through Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Worldwide Fund for Nature(WWF), to support the process of drafting wildlife legislation.According to a press release from the British Embassy Wednesday, the assistance being given by Britain is on the request from the Department of Forestry and Wildlife of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Cambodia. Cambodia has a large and thriving illegal wildlife trade, but currently lacks adequate laws to tackle this, and international trade in wildlife continues unabated to neighboring countries and can be seen in markets both in Phnom Penh, Capital of Cambodia, and Poi Pet on the border with Thailand, it added. The Cambodian government is a recent signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), in which 46 species of mammal, 74 birds and 13 reptiles are listed under either CITES I or II, the most strict CITES regulations. The British Embassy, WCS and WWF hope that with this technical assistance, new wildlife legislation will be available to assist the Cambodian government enforcement officials by next year to effectively crack down on wildlife trade. |
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