Aaranyak, WCCB to work with armed forces to Prevent Wildlife Crimes

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Aaranyak, a leading NGO and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) have chalked out plans to work together with the SashastraSeemaBol (SSB) and other armed forces in intelligence gatherings to prevent wildlife crimes in Assam.

Towards this end a workshop on prevention of wildlife crimes and intelligence gathering conducted for SSB personnel on Friday underlined the need for efficient coordination among the intelligence cell of SSB, WCCB and Aaranyak.

The workshop organized on Friday by the WCCB and Aaranyak with 15th Battalion of SSB located at Kajalgaon in Chirang district. The workshop has assumed significance given the fact that the SSB personnel are entrusted to guard the India-Bhutan Border and the personnel from the 15th Battalion are posted in Manas National Park area along the international boundary.

Inaugurating the workshop the Commandant, 15th Battalion, SSB KajalgaonD B Sonar highlighted the urgent need for striking real-time coordination among intelligence cells of SSB, WCCB and NGOs like Aaranyak for combating the rising graph of wildlife crime.

Sonar said that enforcement officers would have to work very sincerely and diligently in dealing with wildlife crimes so that the offenders won't get acquitted in the court of law.

The commandant urged the officers of the SSB attending the workshop to convey the information and the knowledge gathered in the workshop to the lowest ranks in the force.

"Because of the location of 15thBattalion of the SSB all deployments are mostly in Manas National Park, guarding against cross-border wildlife crime becomes our most important duty," Sonar said.

Assistant director of WCCB, Jawaharlal Baro during the workshop highlighted the present wildlife crime scenario in the sprawling Manas National Park and urged the participants to work hard to bridge the disparity between actual and reported cases.

Addressing the workshop, internationally acclaimed rhino conservation expert and the CEO of Aaranyak, Dr Bibhab Kumar Talukdar discussed about the global perspective of wildlife crime with a focus on rhinos. He mentioned that wildlife crime has now become intricately linked with proliferation of fake

Intelligence assistant of WCCB Hiten Bora talked about techniques of Intelligence gathering and decoy deal. He stressed that wildlife crime is always demand-driven and flagged the importance of reliable informers for breaking the crime chain. He also mentioned about human and economic dimensions on wildlife trade.

Aaranyak and WCCB will carry out more such workshops and activities on wildlife crimes prevention for men in uniform in various parts of the Northeast in coming days so as to raise the awareness level among the enforcement agencies to deal with wildlife crimes as efficiently as possible under the provisions of Wildlife Prevention Act, 1972 and related laws.

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