Guwahati: Biodiversity conservation organisation Aaranyak on Saturday sensitised over 35 border police personnel posted at the Indo-Bhutan border on wildlife crime and illegal wildlife trade.
The sensitisation programme was held as part of its interactive session with the border team of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).
An official update informed that the SSB which guards the country’s border with Bhutan and Tibet is a key border police force in respect of prevention wildlife crimes and illegal trade as the principal consumer territory for wildlife products is located beyond Bhutan and Tibetan Himalayas.
“Cross-border wildlife crime and surreptitious trade on wildlife parts/products demand constant effective vigil by border guarding police forces in coordination with other stakeholders on the ground including forest, state police forces,” it said.
The session was organised by 64 Bn of SSB, Barama in Assam close to Indo-Bhutan border. Aaranyak’s Project Officer and Analyst Ivy Farheen Hussain spoke on how border police like SSB can play an important role in deterring wildlife crime and illegal trade on wildlife. It was part of a two-day course arranged for the SSB border interaction team, who are deployed at the Indo-Bhutan border.
Aaranyak has been relentlessly trying to keep border guarding forces including SSB, ITBP, BSF and other CAPF including CISF abreast of the constant grave threat posed to wildlife conservation in the region dur to illegal wildlife trade and wildlife crime besides trying to create synergy amongst forces to beat the rising crime graph.
Since the boundary area of Manas National Park (MNP) landscape is part of the border with Bhutan, the organisation observed that the area increases the importance for efficient surveillance measures by border police force against wildlife smuggling.
For the past few years, SSB has been very active with seizures of illegal wildlife products in the Manas Landscape and its neighbouring villages, it said.
During the sessions, crucial questions regarding the elephant tusks and rhino horns being trafficked were discussed, including the costs involved in such illegal transactions.
Dear Reader,
Over the past four years, EastMojo revolutionised the coverage of Northeast India through our sharp, impactful, and unbiased coverage. And we are not saying this: you, our readers, say so about us. Thanks to you, we have become Northeast India’s largest, independent, multimedia digital news platform.
Now, we need your help to sustain what you started.
We are fiercely protective of our ‘independent’ status and would like to remain so: it helps us provide quality journalism free from biases and agendas. From travelling to the remotest regions to cover various issues to paying local reporters honest wages to encourage them, we spend our money on where it matters.
Now, we seek your support in remaining truly independent, unbiased, and objective. We want to show the world that it is possible to cover issues that matter to the people without asking for corporate and/or government support. We can do it without them; we cannot do it without you.
Support independent journalism, subscribe to EastMojo.
Thank you,
Karma Paljor
Editor-in-Chief, eastmojo.com
Hussain apprised the participants about the non-disclosure of such products values as per the Wildlife (Protection) Act (WPA) and also explained the various modus operandi regarding illegal trade in wildlife products.
The SSB appreciated Aaranyak’s novel endeavour against wildlife crime and requested the organisation to keep up this stakeholder relationship in order to effectively work towards deterring wildlife crimes in the region together.
Also Read | Assam: Endangered hogs return home at Manas National Park
Trending Stories
- What happens after net zero? The impacts will play out for decades
- Manipur: Vatican ambassador to India visits relief camp in Imphal
- Tripura BJP appoints “feedback gatherers” for 20 tribal seats
- Manipur: Police rescue abducted student; 8 held
- Nagaland: Ahead of Hornbill finale, festival goers face traffic woes
- LPG transporters suspend indefinite strike, cooking gas supply to continue
