The realization of the challenges facing their respective individual national efforts in enforcement and 
compliance efforts has led a number of States to take collective action in developing institutional frameworks. A good example of this is the 1994 Lusaka Agreement on Cooperative Enforcement Operations Directed at Illegal Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora (Lusaka Agreement) which was adopted as the result of a number of African countries teaming up to combat the illegal trade in some African protected species by international organized environmental crime syndicates.
The high point of this cooperative accord is the establishment of a tripartite multinational institutional framework made up of:
The Task Force comprises Field officers (law enforcement officers recommended from the Member States) in the main thrust of this unique multinational institutional framework, with Headquarters at the Kenya Wildlife Service in Nairobi. Its functions include:
- to facilitate cooperative activities among the National Bureaux in carrying out investigations pertaining to illegal trade;
- to investigate violations of national laws pertaining to illegal trade, at the request of the National Bureau or with the consent of the Parties concerned, and to present to them evidence gathered during such investigations;
- to collect, process and disseminate information on activities that pertain to illegal trade, including establishing and maintaining databases;
- to provide upon request of the Parties concerned, available information related to the return to the State of re-export, of confiscated wild fauna and flora; and
- to perform such other function as may be determined by the Governing Council.
For more information, see http://www.lusakaagreement.org or contact Mr. Emily S. Kisamo at Skisamo@lusakaagreement.org