Guwahati: In an effort to deter wildlife crimes at the grassroots level, Aaranyak has conducted two back-to-back workshops in Arunachal Pradesh under its initiative DETERS (Disrupt and End Trade of Endangered and Rare Species).
The workshop was organised in collaboration with the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB).
The sensitisation workshops on wildlife crime were conducted on May 22 and 24 at Anini in Dibang Valley district and at Tezu in Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh. Over 80 persons comprising members of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), forest department, Arunachal Pradesh Police, village heads and local NGOs participated in the event.
The events also formed a part of the LiFE campaign of the Government of India.
The audience at Anini were made aware of the impact of wildlife trade on global health as well as the well-being of human beings by a senior manager Dr Jimmy Borah.
“The enforcement personnel were also enlightened on wildlife crime scene investigations and evidence gathering by Project Officer of Aaranyak Ivy Farheen Hussain. A hands-on session on proper identification of wildlife products was conducted by the WCCB team, which was led by Assistant Director of sub-regional office in Guwahati Jawaharlal Baro and included Operational Assistance by Nabajit Barman,” the release said.
Moreover, Commandant of ITBP O P Sejawat highlighted the importance of such training sessions and the need to organise such training at regular intervals. The training programme at Tezu in Lohit district was also attended by community members led by the village heads, self-help groups and village representatives, the release said.
“Given that action-enabled awareness is required at the grass root level in the event of occurrence of wildlife crime in villages on the fringe of wildlife protection areas, the participants in Tezu workshop were enlightened on different ways to tackle wildlife crime as well as on their role to prevent such illegalities,” it further added.
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As per the official statement, a technical session was also organised in Tezu workshop similar to the one held in Anini workshop for the participating personnel from the ITBP, Forest Department and Arunachal Pradesh Police.
It may be mentioned that the sensitisation workshops held in Anini and Tezu were attended by the respective Divisional Forest Officers of Arunachal Pradesh government. The DFOs provided generous support for the training workshops.
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