Sonari (Assam), Feb 18: Burgeoning crime against wildlife and illegal trade in wildlife have transcended geographical boundaries across the globe because of the patronage it enjoys from insurgents that are dependent on arms smugglers and drug lords.
Security personnel and police forces deployed closed to inter-state and international borders can play a very important role in prevention and mitigation of crimes against wildlife and illegal trade in wildlife parts keeping a close watch on the ground and across the borders.
Charaideo district of Assam is such a district which has a long southern boundary with Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland that have international border with Myanmar, a notorious transit route for arms, drugs and wildlife.
Thus the district police force of Charaideo occupies a pivotal role in prevention of crimes against wildlife. Taking this ground reality into account, premier biodiversity research and conservation organisation, Aaranyak (www. Aaranyak.org) in cooperation with Charaideo district police headed by the Superintendent of Police (SP), Sudhakar Singh, today organised a detailed sensitisation workshop packed with substantial presentations, on crimes against wildlife and illegal trade on wildlife parts in the conference hall of Sonari Police Station.
Dr Bibhab Kumar Talukdar, the Secretary General and the CEO of Aaranyak in his presentation in the workshop, explained at length about alarming global scenario of wildlife crime as on date with a focus on rhino poaching.
He spoke at length about how social unrest could induce grave threat to wildlife resources and how prevalence of wildlife crime will forever endanger national security because of its intricate link to insurgency, arms smuggling and clandestine narcotics drugs trade.
Dr. Jimmy Borah, Senior Manager of the Legal and Advocacy Division (LAD) at Aaranyak while addressing the workshop emphasized on wildlife crime perspectives and flagged how collaborations among different security agencies can bring about a change for better in tackling the menace. He also spoke about how wildlife crime needs to be viewed very seriously by all stakeholders in the society especially enforcement agencies to tackle it effectively.
Ivy Farheen Hussain, Project Officer at Aaranyak spoke about burgeoning crimes against wildlife beyond mega species and explained the kind of wildlife crimes prevalent in the North East India. She also stressed that criminals committing crimes against wildlife are as much a danger to the society as any other offenders.
The session closed with the participants exhibiting curiosity about fishing in wildlife protected areas in the state especially Kaziranga National Park and rhino poaching in the region. The resource persons discussed the Wildlife Protection Act in length including its various relevant provisions and mandates.
The SP, Sudhakar Singh appreciated the efforts of Aaranyak and remarked how significant this interaction would be for the future actions on part of the police officials in the audience while dealing in cases of crimes against wildlife. He also remarked such refresher orientations should be regularly carried out for the men in uniform
Besides the SP, the interactive workshop was graced by the presence of other senior police official including Sabita Das, Additional SP (border), Amitabh Basumatary, Additional SP (Headquarters).
A dozen police officials from various police stations across Charaideo district took active part in the workshop on prevention and mitigation of crimes against wildlife.
Men in uniform have always been given prime importance by the LAD division of Aaranyak in carrying out such workshops. The NGO has so far organised many such workshops for police forces, paramilitary forces and border guards.