Workshop on combating wildlife trafficking held in Sivasagar DFO office

OUR CORRESPONDENT

SIVASAGAR: The office of the Divisional Forest Officer (Territorial), Sivasagar, in collaboration with Wildlife Conservation Society-India (WCS-India) and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), conducted a two-day workshop on Combating Wildlife Trafficking in Sivasagar. The event was held on July 22 and July 24.

There were 10 trainees from the Sivasagar District Police in the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police and sub-inspectors and the trainees who participated in the workshop were in the rank of Assistant Conservator of Forests, Range Officer, Forester-I, Forest Guard from Sivasagar and Charaideo districts covering three ranges viz; Sivasagar Range, Sonari Range and Borhat Range, including Bihubor Beat. The event was held at the Sukafa conference hall of the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Sivasagar.

On the opening day of the workshop on July 22, Jayashree Naiding, DFO (Territorial), Sivasagar Division, briefed about the objective of the workshop where she highlighted the importance of field staff in fighting against wildlife crimes. Mridula Vijairaghavan of WCS-India discussed with participants the nitty-gritty aspects of legal procedures governing reporting of a wildlife crime case. She spoke in details on Wildlife Act, 1972 and Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

Dr KK Sarma of WCCB, elaborated on search and seizure, while Anirban Chaudhuri, training coordinator of WCS, spoke on identification of species, their parts and products in trade. Sahila Kudalkar from WCS-India gave an introduction to wildlife crime and regional overview of wildlife crime in Assam.

Concluding the workshop on July 23, Sivasagar Deputy Commissioner Dr Lakshmanan S and Divisional Forest Officer Jayashree Naiding addressed a joint press conference in Sukafa Conference Hall of DC’s office, Sivasagar. The DFO apprised the media persons in detail about the objective of the workshop and the existing stringent law for wildlife protection and efforts towards combat wildlife trafficking.

Citing the need for a stronger effort to tackle the illegal trade in wildlife, the Deputy Commissioner sought cooperation from media. He stated that media had a pivotal role to play in generating awareness against wildlife trafficking as well as in case of sharing vital information of any violation, thereby facilitating the arrest of the perpetrators.

Also read: Two-day workshop on combating wildlife trafficking underway in Sivasagar DC office