AFFIRMING that Member States have the sovereign right to manage their wildlife resources and the corresponding responsibility to sustainably use and conserve these resources; NOTING that Article 5 of the SADC Treaty states that the sustainable use of natural resources and effective protection of the environment is one of the objectives of SADC; NOTING also that Article 21 of the SADC Treaty designates natural resources and environment as an area of co-operation for SADC Member States; AWARE that the conservation and sustainable use of wildlife in the SADC Region contribute to sustainable economic development and the conservation of biological diversity; CONVINCED that the viability of wildlife resources in the SADC Region requires collective and co-operative action by all SADC Member States; CONVINCED also that the conservation and sustainable use of wildlife in the SADC Region depend on the proper management and utilisation of wildlife, including enforcement of laws governing such use ; RECOGNISING that the survival of wildlife depends on the perceptions and development needs of people living with wildlife; BELIEVING that the regional management of wildlife and wildlife products will promote awareness of the socio-economic value of wildlife and enable equitable distribution of the benefits derived from the sustainable use of wildlife; ACKNOWLEDGING the need for co-operation among Member States in enforcing laws governing wildlife, in sharing information about wildlife resources and wildlife law enforcement, and in building national and regional capacity to manage wildlife and enforce the laws that govern it; RECALLING that all SADC Member States are members of the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol), and that all are signatories or parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), the African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (Algiers, 1968) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) (Washington, 1973); NOTING ALSO the agreement for the establishment of the Southern African Convention for Wildlife Management (SACWM, 1990), the Lusaka Agreement on Cooperative Enforcement Operations Directed at Illegal Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora (Lusaka, 1994) and the Master Plan for the Security of Rhino and Elephant in Southern Africa (1996); DESIRING to establish a common framework for the conservation and sustainable use of wildlife resources in the SADC Region and to assist with the effective enforcement of laws governing those resources; HEREBY agree as follows: