TRAFFIC India accelerates efforts on strengthening wildlife law enforcement in India

The workshop was inaugurated by Mr Ajesh Kumar, Additional Director General, NACEN. Dr. A R Rahmani, Director, Bombay natural History Society was the Guest of Honour. Also present at the occasion were Mr T K Samant, Joint Director, NACEN, along with 20 participants from the forest department representing different wildlife and forest divisions of Maharashtra and 25 custom officers from different parts of the .state.

 

This two day workshop aims to sensitize the officers on the latest tools and techniques available to fight the illicit wildlife trade and also to give them an overview of the organised global wildlife crime. The key resource persons who will be conducting various sessions during the workshop include; Mr. Samir Sinha-Head TRAFFIC India and expert on Wildlife trade scenario, Dr. SP Goyal-Wildlife Forensic expert and Prof B.C. Choudhary - expert on the marine issues, both from Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, Ritwick Dutta- Advocate from the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India and wildlife & environment expert, Saurabh Sharma - Advocate from Delhi High Court and expert on the wildlife laws.

 

Mumbai being well connected with sea, air and land routes provides a lucrative bed for illegal wildlife traders to smuggle their goods. Marine species like sea horses, shells and corals are being smuggled through this route to other parts of the world. This is also a major route for ivory, live birds and pet animal trade. Crawford market in Mumbai is one such vulnerable area. During October 2010 a person was arrested by Mumbai customs for smuggling about 10000 kg Red Sanders. During the same month a man was arrested in Dadar by Mumbai Forest department officials for possessing two elephant tusks. These cases are a witness to the wildlife organised crime that prevails.

This programme is being supported by DEFRA, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of the Govt. of U.K., under the UK-India Sustainable Development Dialogue (UK-India SDD) between the Governments of India and UK.

 

Mr. Samir Sinha welcomed the Guest of honour Dr. Asad.R.Rahmani, Director, BNHS. Mr. Ajesh Kumar, ADG, NACEN was presented the resource kits of the workshop. He also released the Hindi version of TRAFFIC-India’s educational film “Don’t Buy Trouble” which educates people about the legal consequences of indulging in illegal wildlife trade. The Hindi version is called “Musibat Na Mole Lein”.

 

Inaugurating the workshop, Mr Ajesh Kumar said that this multi agency training will mark a new beginning for Customs and forest department. He congratulated the efforts of WII, Defra and TRAFFIC for providing the opportunity to customs to acquire skills for combating the illicit wildlife trade and also added that such specialized trainings will help in improving their understanding and provide better skills to combat the organised wildlife crime. Mr. Ajesh Kumar welcomed the synergy between various govt. organizations who are duty bound to protect the biodiversity of the country. He expressed the need for such courses to be conducted on a regular basis and in other branches of NACEN as well.

 

Dr. Asad. R. Rahmani presented the panorama of biodiversity of the Western Ghats and emphasized the high level of endemism in various faunal groups such as stream dwelling fish, amphibians and birds. He emphasized that many of these species have very small geographical range. He said that illegal wildlife trade not only threatens species by direct depletion of their populations but also due to accidental and intentional release of species which can hybridize with related endemic species, eroding their genetic stock.

 

Samir Sinha , Head TRAFFIC India while conducting the workshop described wildlife crime as a form of organized transnational crime and the need of an organized response to such crime. He talked about the regional and global reach of such crimes and the need to continuously update skills and knowledge in meeting this challenge. He also familiarized the participants with the training module.

 

Resource material provided to the participants includes a printed compendium, CDs on various related themes and other books, posters etc. pertaining to wildlife law and enforcement issues. A copy of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, CRPC manual and a CD containing questions from the year 2004-07 pertaining to Wildlife raised in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have also been provided to participants for easy and ready reference. During the course of this workshop, a wildlife forensic sample collection kit developed jointly by Wildlife Institute of India and TRAFFIC has been distributed to the participants. The customized kit will enable the field staff to collect samples for forensic analysis as per the prescribed protocols.

 

 

 

Defra (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) is a Government Department in the UK. The overarching challenge for Defra is to secure a healthy environment in which we and future generations can prosper.

 

 

TRAFFIC is the world’s largest wildlife trade monitoring network and a joint programme of WWF, the conservation organization and IUCN-the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It was established in 1976 and since then it has developed a considerable international reputation for helping to identify and address conservation challenges linked to trade in wild animals and plants.  

In India, TRAFFIC carries out research and provides analysis, support and encouragement to efforts aimed at ensuring that wildlife trade is not a threat to conservation of nature in India. TRAFFIC-India works as a programme division of WWF –India, the largest conservation organization in India.

 

Established in 1982, Wildlife Institute of India (WII) is an internationally acclaimed Institution, which offers training program, academic courses and advisory in wildlife research and management. The Institute is actively engaged in research across the breadth of the country on biodiversity related issues.