Border Security Force hosts workshop on wildlife crime

DHUBRI: As the illegal wildlife trade has assumed alarming proportions globally, the checking of the same demands for a concerted effort involving various agencies and stake holders. The Border Security Force (BSF) which guards the frontiers of the country, is one of such key agencies that can play an important role in checking wildlife crimes especially the trans-border cries.

The Legal and Advocacy Division (LAD) of Aaranyak, a premier biodiversity conservation and research organisation, under its umbrella initiative DETERS (Disrupt and End Trade in Endangered and Rare Species) has been organizing awareness training and workshops with various enforcement agencies and other stake-holders to raise awareness on wildlife crime with an aim to reduce and ultimately stop domestic and regional trafficking for wildlife products.

As part of this sustained efforts, Aaranyak in collaboration with the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) on Friday conducted an interactive workshop for the BSF at their sector HQ at Dhubri on India-Bangladesh border. Around 30 staff of 41 Bn, 19 Bn, 06 Bn, 31 Bn and SHQ of BSF attended the workshop. The inaugural session was conducted in the presence of the Commandant Manish Raj. Dr. Jimmy Borah, Senior Manager of the LAD, Aaranyak gave an overview on wildlife crime and illegal trade in the region with a global perspective and scale of the crime.

He mentioned how border agencies like BSF can help towards curbing illegal trade in wildlife, its derivatives and monitor the trade routes- which would ultimately develop appropriate response chains both nationally and internationally. He also mentioned about the importance of collaborations with various agencies to help fight against wildlife crime.

Nabajit Barman of WCCB presented ways to identify various wildlife products that are commonly traded in the region. He also showed ways to detect and distinguish between fake and real wildlife products, stated a press release.

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