Guwahati: Altogether 100 frontline forest staff of Manas National Park will be trained by Wildlife Trust of India in partnership with Assam Forest Department and Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) in Wildlife Crime prevention with the first batch of 32 staff beginning their training today.
BTC Deputy Chief Khampa Borgoyary inaugurating the training programme said training, morale boosting and equipping front line staff was very important in conservation.
”Conducting trainings like these in three crucial areas of Greater Manas is a good initiative to control wildlife crime and impose law and order in the region”, he said.
Manas Tiger Reserve Deputy Director Sonali Ghosh said this was a great initiative taken by IFAW-WTI to train the front line staff and should be done in broader aspect touching the boundaries from western to eastern landscape of Manas.
Manas Tiger Reserve Field Director Anindya Swargowari along with other senior officials attended the inaugural day session which was participated by 32 staff members drawn from all the three ranges of the Park.
Divisional Forest Officer Bhupen Talukdar is the mentor of the ongoing wildlife crime prevention training conducted by IFAW-WTI at Manas.
IFAW-WTI Regional Head (Assam) Bhaskar Choudhury said the recent poaching of five of the translocated rhinos during the past two years have highlighted the need to strengthen the anti-poaching measures in Manas National Park.
The training is therefore critical to equip the forest staff to face the challenge of poaching and other threats he said.
The month-long training will see the frontline staff brush upon their understanding protection of biodiversity of Greater Manas, threats faced and its conservation. (PTI)
