Guwahati, Feb 26: About 60 personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) deployed in the international airport in Guwahati were sensitised on the grave threat posed to the nation by the ever-increasing illegal wildlife trade taking place through various airports in the country of late in two back-to-back workshops conducted by a resource team from Aaranyak on February 22 and 23 here with support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
The CISF personnel were explained some fine aspects on how to go about curbing illegal trade of wildlife taking place through the airports during these workshops. A senior manager in Aaranyak Dr Jimmy Borah and Project Officer Ivy Farheen Hussain made elaborate presentations on the global scene of wildlife crime and illegal trades and modus operandi of smuggling racket while surreptitiously routing wildlife parts through airports in the country as well as across the globe. They also engaged in interactions with participating CISF personnel including women staff responding to various queries from them.
The two officials from Aaranyak, a premier research-oriented biodiversity conservation organisation, sensitised the CISF personnel how the burgeoning global illegal wildlife trade which has reached an alarming proportion of about 200 billion USD posed threat to the national security because of its intricate links to global drug cartels and arm smuggling rackets.
The Aaranyak resource team alerted the attending CISF personnel that the global racket of illegal wildlife trade has shown increasing tendency to take the air routes because of factors like faster transshipment, better convenience, comparatively cheap mode, less chance of getting caught, presence of a section of corrupt elements in some of the airports who help the illegal trade.
The elite Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) which is entrusted to secure airports of the country in addition to their various other responsibilities, is faced with a growing challenge of curbing trafficking of wildlife products in airports across the country in the wake of the burgeoning illegal trade in wildlife.
The Aaranyak team also highlighted the mostly traded illegal wildlife products as on date on the basis of global trend. They informed that apart from highly traded pangolin scales, tiger parts, ivory products, and rhino horns, the global rackets also trade on reptiles and various other precious faunal and floral species so that the CISF men while discharging their duty in airports can keep an eye on this aspect too more efficiently.