MUMBAI: The forest officials at Sanjay Gandhi National Park are set to kick off a sensitization programme that will help stop poaching by staffers' kin. This initative comes on the back of the involvement of two forest guards' sons in a leopard poaching case that came to light on Monday., has left the forest officials at Sanjay Gandhi National Park with the need to sensitize their staffers' kin as well toward poaching.
Families of several forest officials live on the premises and have the best access to the forest, which makes the crime easier to commit. The need is to make their kin more sensitive to avoid such instances, officials say.
A senior forest official said that increasing surveillance is only one half of the partly the solution to the problem of poaching. It is also the families of as well as staffers who need to be made aware not just of the need to preserve wildlife but also of the seriousness of the crime and the punishment that which follows it.
"This case should serve as an example. Most staffers of those who work in the forest are usually well-aware of their responsibilities,and role but their families should also be involved or made aware of in the effort to preserve wildlife," he said. Officials said there are many staffers who live with their families in quarters within the park. Another official said that even though this was a rare case, "the effort of speaking to families should start now It can be more of an awareness measure to avoid involvement of kin in wildlife crimes". Officials also said families should be made aware of the penalties that come along with poaching to further discourage them.
Krishna Tiwari from City Forest Initiative said the idea to speak to families is a novel one and may make a difference when it is finally implemented.
The need to sensitize has arisen after the crime branch have arrested four persons in connection to leopard poaching. They include Alok Khaire (27), Prashant Patel (25), Tushar Bagwe (29) and Abhishek Rane (26). They were arrested on Monday while trying to sell a leopard skin for Rs 4 lakh.
The police said they had formed several teams and were still looking for the gang leader, Pankaj, Patel's elder brother.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Officials-target-poaching-by-forest-staff-kin/articleshow/18602261.cms
Families of several forest officials live on the premises and have the best access to the forest, which makes the crime easier to commit. The need is to make their kin more sensitive to avoid such instances, officials say.
A senior forest official said that increasing surveillance is only one half of the partly the solution to the problem of poaching. It is also the families of as well as staffers who need to be made aware not just of the need to preserve wildlife but also of the seriousness of the crime and the punishment that which follows it.
"This case should serve as an example. Most staffers of those who work in the forest are usually well-aware of their responsibilities,and role but their families should also be involved or made aware of in the effort to preserve wildlife," he said. Officials said there are many staffers who live with their families in quarters within the park. Another official said that even though this was a rare case, "the effort of speaking to families should start now It can be more of an awareness measure to avoid involvement of kin in wildlife crimes". Officials also said families should be made aware of the penalties that come along with poaching to further discourage them.
Krishna Tiwari from City Forest Initiative said the idea to speak to families is a novel one and may make a difference when it is finally implemented.
The need to sensitize has arisen after the crime branch have arrested four persons in connection to leopard poaching. They include Alok Khaire (27), Prashant Patel (25), Tushar Bagwe (29) and Abhishek Rane (26). They were arrested on Monday while trying to sell a leopard skin for Rs 4 lakh.
The police said they had formed several teams and were still looking for the gang leader, Pankaj, Patel's elder brother.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Officials-target-poaching-by-forest-staff-kin/articleshow/18602261.cms
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