Comprehensive manual released on wildlife law enforcement in India : TRAFFIC India Head authors book

[Guest guest]

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*Press Release*

 

* ** For Immediate Release*

 

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16 February 2010

 

*INDIA**’S WILDLIFE LAW ENFORCEMENT GETS A BOOST WITH THE LAUNCH OF

TRAFFIC’S LATEST HANDBOOK *

 

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New Delhi – As a step forward towards strengthening wildlife enforcement in

India, Shri Jairam Ramesh, Hon. Minister of Environment and Forests launched

TRAFFIC India’s latest Handbook on Wildlife Law Enforcement in India on 16

February 2010 at the WWF-India Secretariat in New Delhi. The book has been

produced with support from WWF-India and is authored by Samir Sinha,

Head-TRAFFIC India.

 

 

 

The handbook is a comprehensive and detailed publication on wildlife trade

and crime, conceived from several discussions with senior enforcement

officials and experts. It aims to support efforts of various enforcement

agencies in their fight against this wildlife crime. The handbook is for use

by officials from the Forest Department, Police, paramilitary forces

guarding our borders, the Central Bureau of Investigation, Department of

Revenue Intelligence and others working on wildlife enforcement in India. It

can be used as an important resource material during trainings conducted on

wildlife enforcement and other related issues.

 

 

 

Its special features include sections on prevention of offences, identifying

early signs, the scene of wildlife crime, internet as a tool for illegal

wildlife trade, securing electronic evidence and conducting interrogation.

 

 

 

In the foreword to the book, Shri Jairam Ramesh stated, “The handbook is a

comprehensive document that highlights emerging threats from illegal

wildlife trade and offers valuable information on identifying and responding

to such threats.”

 

 

 

“I would recommend the field practitioners, enforcement and policing

authorities and anyone with a keen interest in protecting our natural

heritage to make use of this handbook in the best possible way”, he also

mentioned at the launch.

 

 

 

Mr. Ravi Singh, SG & CEO, WWF-India further commented, “From a

conservationist’s point of view, the handbook is a vital input at the

present stage of India’s conservation history, being published at a time

when many of our own species and conservation landscapes are depreciating,

some beyond even long term recovery. I am confident that the handbook will

help the practitioners and concerned individuals in standing firm against

erosion of our natural heritage.”

 

 

 

Mr. Samir Sinha, Head-TRAFFIC India and also the author of the book said, “I

am deeply touched by the support and appreciation I have received for this

book. It is hoped that this handbook will prove as a useful tool in the

battle against illegal wildlife crime in India.”

 

 

 

For more information please contact, Dilpreet B. Chhabra at 9899000472 or

Khalid Pasha at 9810797349.

 

 

 

 

 

*Notes:*

 

 

 

1. India plays an important global role in the trade of wildlife, which

includes all diverse life forms found in the wild. While most of the

wildlife trade may be legal, a significant part is not. The most commonly

known products in illegal wildlife trade in India are: mongoose hair;

snakeskin; Rhino horn; Tiger and Leopard claws, bones, skins, whiskers;

Elephant tusks; deer antlers; turtle shells; musk pods; bear bile; medicinal

plants; timber and caged birds such as parakeets, mynas, munias etc.

 

 

 

2. Illegal wildlife trade has slowly emerged as one of the biggest

threats to our precious flora and fauna in the wild, pushing many species

towards extinction. Despite avowed intentions of the official machinery and

a host of policies; factors such as the changes in the way world

communicates especially with the internet and the easy access to

international travel, the trade has now transformed itself into a form of

organized transnational crime with an overlap with other forms of crime.

 

 

 

3. TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network is a joint programme

of WWF, the Global Conservation Organisation and IUCN, the International

Union for Conservation of Nature, presently working on wildlife trade issues

in over 25 countries and territories, with ongoing research and activities

in several others. In India, TRAFFIC functions as a division of WWF-India

(World Wide Fund for Nature – India), New Delhi. TRAFFIC India works to

ensure that trade in wild plants and animals is not a threat to the

conservation of nature in India. For more information please visit

www.traffic.org or www.trafficindia.org

 

 

 

4. WWF is one of the world's largest conservation organizations, with

almost 5 million supporters and a global network active in over 100

countries. WWF's mission *is to stop the degradation of the earth's natural

environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with

nature,* by conserving the world's biological diversity, ensuring that the

use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the

reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.

 

 

5. Mr. Samir Sinha is a member of the Indian Forest Service of the

Uttarakhand Cadre and presently heads TRAFFIC India. He holds a P.G. (Hons)

Diploma in Wildlife Management from the Wildlife Institute of India and has

worked for nearly six years in various capacities in Corbett Tiger Reserve,

most notably as the Founder Director of the Corbett (Wildlife) Training

Centre. He has also worked as Director Rajaji National Park and Nanda Devi

Biosphere Reserve and is credited with working in 11 Protected Areas so far.

He is a member of IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas and the Asian

Rhino Specialist Group. He can be contacted at ssinha

 

Regards

 

Programme Officer

TRAFFIC India

WWF India Secretariat

172-B, Lodi Estate, New Delhi 110003, India

Tel: +91-11-41504786, Fax: +91-11-43516200

Visit us at " www.traffic.org "

 

TRAFFIC- the wildlife trade monitoring network- is a joint programme of WWF

and IUCN-The World Conservation Union. It works to ensure that trade in wild

plants and animals is not a threat to conservation of nature.