South Asia’s First Integrated Wildlife Law Enforcement Strategy to be Developed in India — TRAFFIC

by Shubhobroto Ghosh 

New Delhi: Senior delegates from various enforcement and intelligence agencies of the eight South Asian countries plus China, Russia, and Myanmar will meet next week to develop a cross cutting operational strategy to curb the growing menace of illegal wildlife trade in the region.

The Integrated Investigative Capacity Development and Operational Planning Meeting in New Delhi, India, taking place from 1-5 July 2013 is a critical step to mobilize co-ordinated action against wildlife crime by the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN). The event is being led by INTERPOL’s Environmental Crime Programme and the Government of India’s Central Bureau of Investigation, with additional technical support from the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), and TRAFFIC.

Illegal wildlife trade is perceived to be a high profit and low risk activity and has grown to become the fifth largest illegal global trade after narcotics, counterfeiting, human trafficking and oil trafficking. Besides driving many endangered species towards extinction, illegal wildlife trade strengthens criminal networks, undermines national security, and poses increasing risks to global health. Since illegal wildlife trade extends beyond national borders, a regional strategy and international co-operation are needed to address its growing influence.

Against this background, this specialized capacity development and operation planning meeting will aim to identify regional priorities in wildlife law enforcement, implement a common approach for regional operations and bridge communication gaps between agencies at the national and regional levels. This meeting will also help to strengthen SAWEN as an institution by connecting focal points and specialists with other national colleagues and government representatives. The initiative will help enhance enforcement capacity for the conservation of wild tigers and other Asian big cats, linking up with INTERPOL’s Project Predator. The capacity development and subsequent operational planning will allow participants to guide the international community with targeted regional strategies for information strategies and effective investigations.

At least three officials from each of the South Asian countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) representing one or more enforcement agencies, including the police, wildlife departments, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, INTERPOL National Central Bureaus, environmental agencies, SAWEN focal points and Customs agencies are expected to attend the meeting as well as delegates from China and Russia.

Dr Shekhar Kumar Niraj, Head of TRAFFIC in India said: “TRAFFIC is very excited about this meeting and hopeful that concrete plans for combating wildlife crime will emerge from it – the inputs from INTERPOL and India’s CBI, along with other experts, will play a critical role in assisting SAWEN to realize its full potential as a best-practice law enforcement network.”

The meeting will largely focus on capacity development of tools for the support of investigative operations, intelligence-led best practices such as controlled deliveries, questioning wildlife smugglers, risk management and ethics and professionalism in building wildlife cases.

“The meeting is crucial for SAWEN since one of its main mandates is to bring together the eight South Asian countries for fighting wildlife crime. A concentrated global response in the form of a well committed and focused operational plan by the countries and SAWEN is necessary to stop illegal wildlife trade” said Dr Niraj.

Generous financial support from both the US Department of State and USAID is acknowledged in making this landmark training event possible.

For more information, please contact Shubhobroto Ghosh at +91-9310480645/011-41504786. You can also visit our websites — Traffic and Traffic India.

About TRAFFIC

TRAFFIC was established in 1976 and since then it has developed a considerable international reputation for helping to identify and address conservation challenges linked to trade in wild animals and plants. In India, TRAFFIC carries out research and provides analysis, support and encouragement to efforts aimed at ensuring that wildlife trade is not a threat to conservation of nature in India. TRAFFIC in India works as a programme division of WWF–India, the largest conservation organization in India. TRAFFIC is a strategic alliance of WWF and IUCN.

About the author

Shubhobroto Ghosh
The author is Senior Programme Officer, TRAFFIC India.

Source: http://www.conservationindia.org/news/traffic-india

Call of the wild

PU Antony, June 4, 2013

Blooming Biosphere The declaration of two new sanctuaries by the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka governments comes as a hope for many endangered species. Increased protection and awareness, especially in tiger reserves, has already led to resurgence in tiger numbers in southern India, writes  PU Antony.

World Environment Day being celebrated each year with festivities around the world is primarily meant to invoke political and public action towards issues concerned with the environment.
This year, the day is marked by the creation of corridors that would enable marooned wild life of Nilgiri Biosphere to roam in a larger, more intact ecosystem. The untiring efforts of various green organisations towards this cause in South India resulted in the recent declaration of sanctuary status to two reserve forests and the ban of night traffic on various highways passing through Bandipur, Nagarhole, Mudumalai and Wayanad wildlife sanctuary. These two initiatives from the part of the respective state governments paved way for an unruffled subsistence for wild animals in this belt.

The new Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary (Tamil Nadu) including areas along the River Cauvery in the Hosur and Dharmapuri forest divisions, together with the unique Gutterayan Riverine Forest was first proposed by the noted naturalist, M Krishnan immediately after the promulgation of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. Later, the proposal being put up since then from time to time by various green organisations became a reality when Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announced its implementation in the Tamil Nadu assembly on May 2 this year.

In a similar move, the Karnataka government has officially declared a part of the Kollegala Range Forest as Male Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary on May 16,. Out of the 1,224 sq km of the range forest, 906.18 sq km (90,618.75 hectares) has been declared a sanctuary. The declaration has been welcomed by NGOs and greens who had persistently demanded sanctuary status to these forests.

A crucial habitat

The new Cauvery wildlife sanctuary is a very crucial habitat dotted with a range of hills covered by dry deciduous and semi-evergreen forests on the Eastern Ghats, bound by the River Cauvery on the West. Some stretches of shola forests too are seen on the slopes of the hills. This is the only forest in Tamil Nadu other than Srivilliputhur that harbours the Grizzled Giant Squirrel, ratufa macroura. The ruling monarch of these jungles is the elephant.

This forest range stretches to sanctuaries of BR Hills and Sathyamangalam including the newly installed Male Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary and joins the tiger reserves of Nilgiri Biosphere. As the meeting point of the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats, these forests form a vital link in the elephant corridors of South India, connecting the Bannerghatta National Park and the River Cauvery. It borders some of the prominent tiger sanctuaries of the South. Water sources like Cauvery, Dodahalla, Hebbahalla, Chinnar, Ponnaiar, Anaibiddahalla rivers make these ranges a promising habitat for wild life.

A home to the endangered

Both the proposed sanctuaries are home to many endangered wildlife like four-horned antelope  (tetracerus quadricornis),  Indian gaur (bos gaurus), sambar (cervus unicolor), leopard (panthera pardus), smooth-coated otter (lutrogale perspicillata), sloth bear (melursus ursinus), wild dog (cuon alpines), Indian pangolin (manis crassicaudata), rusty spotted cat (prionailurus rubiginosus), Egyptian vulture (neophron percnopterus), painted stork (mycteria leucocephala), grey headed fish eagle (ichthyophaga ichthyaetus), lesser fish eagle (ichthyophaga humilis) etc. whose protection under Wildlife Protection Act needs to be ensured.

The vegetation type

These sanctuaries host mixed vegetation types such as thorn scrub, dry tropical riverine, dry deciduous, mixed deciduous, dry evergreen and semi evergreen. The forests of the hill harbour many rare plants and trees such as giant mangifera indica, garcinia gummigutta, wild balsam, wild jack, etc. Endangered species such as shorea roxburghii also occur in the division. Significant trees such as old growth mutti (terminalia arjuna), hardwickia binata, ippe (madhuca longifolia), diospyros malabarica etc. occur here.

Habitat fragmentation due to settlements, poaching, cattle grazing, forest fire; exodus of elephant herds from fragmented forests; increase in road network into the forest areas etc. can now be effectively managed for better conservation. Allowing the elephants to disperse haphazardly will be disastrous as the landscape has changed vastly due to human activity. The only option is to contain the elephants within the existing forest divisions by protecting the habitat and making it suitable for elephants. To that extent, the setting up of the two sanctuaries is a positive move.

The nature of forest cover in the Eastern Ghats had become more open with extensive scrub patches. It is reasonable to assume that the trend has continued and probably accelerated in the last decade. The seriousness and intensity of the problems need to be acknowledged and corrective measures need to be put in place.

This can only be done by enhancing the status of the important parts of the region to a protected area and re-orienting the management towards wildlife conservation.

The declaration of the two sanctuaries will create a large tract of contiguous protected area connecting Bannerghatta National Park to the forests of Sathaymangalam through Kollegal and Kanakpura Forest Divisions and Billigirirangaswamy Tiger Reserve. Increased protection and awareness, especially in tiger reserves, are leading to resurgence in tiger numbers and the tiger range in southern India is increasing. Strict protection of the proposed area will lead to a healthy population of ungulate prey species and the area will once again become habitable for the tiger.

Source: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/336351/call-wild.html

Preserve repositories of vulnerable biodiversity

By The New Indian Express |  03rd June 2013 07:42 AM
The India archipelago of Nicobar Islands, home to around 1,800 animal species and some of the world’s most endangered tribes, has now been declared as a world biosphere reserve. The 103,870-hectare reserve was last week officially declared as protected by the International Coordinating Council of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme. The archipelago is also home to the indigenous Shopmen people, semi-nomadic hunters dwelling inland and the Nicobarese who live in coastal areas and are dependent on fishing and agriculture.

Biosphere reserves are chosen by the MAB programme to experiment with different approaches to manage terrestrial, marine, coastal and freshwater resources. They also serve as in situ laboratories for sustainable development. In India the biospheres of Simplipal (Odisha), Nokrek (Meghalaya), Pachmarhi (Madhya Pradesh), Nilgiri (Tamil Nadu), the Gulf of Mannar (Tamil Nadu), Sunderbans (West Bengal) Nanda Devi (Uttarakhand), and Achanakmar-Amarkantak (MP and Chhattisgarh) are already on UNESCO’s list. The designation is not binding under any law but aimed at building and promoting a network of places where people are attempting to mesh human activity with biological and scenic assets.

Man-made changes to ecosystems are now so alarmingly rapid that human lives and societies face epic challenges. Technological fixes cannot replace the role of robust, complex, and interconnected natural ecosystems in maintaining a biosphere’s favourable conditions. Any viable response to the global environmental crisis must greatly expand the level of protection afforded to wildlife and wild places through conservation. It is imperative to protect all old-growth habitats, as these remnants are ancient repositories of rich and vulnerable biodiversity and optimal arenas for life-sustaining processes.

Source: http://newindianexpress.com/editorials/Preserve-repositories-of-vulnerable-biodiversity/2013/06/03/article1617284.ece?commentId=76816&pageNumber=1#comment-76816