Uttaranchal: In a move to sensitize and empower the forest staff of Shivalik elephant reserve, a training programme on wildlife crime prevention and law was organized from 13th July to 3rd August in Uttaranchal by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) in association with Uttaranchal Forest Department. About 785 individuals from the territorial and wildlife divisions of the forest department from various forest ranges of the elephant reserve participated in the fortnight long training programme.

The main reason for conducting the training in the Shivalik elephant reserve was to tackle the recent spat of elephant poaching reported from different areas of the reserve. In 2001 several tuskers were reportedly killed by poachers on a single day. Shivalik elephant reserve constitutes three protected areas, Jim Corbett National Park , Rajaji National Park and Sona-nadi Wildlife Sanctuary apart from other forest divisions.

According to Rakesh Kr. Singh Manager Van Rakshak division (WTI), “Shivalik elephant reserve in Uttranchal is considered to have one of the highest densities of tuskers found in India . Due to this reason, poaching of elephants was a major threat in these areas. Secondly, although we have conducted such trainings in the three protected areas of the elephant reserve in the past, we haven’t covered all the forest divisions that constitute this elephant reserve. This is for the first time we have covered an elephant reserve in totality”

“Considering this regular spate of poaching and a similar modus operandi in many of the cases there is a possibility of a single group involved in all the cases. There is a clear indication of poachers dealing in ivory trade operating in these areas” he further adds.

Training was conducted in the 11 territorial divisions of the Shivalik elephant reserve covering the forest divisions of Dehradun, Kalei soil conservation district Haridwar, Lansdowne, Terai east, west and central, Haldwani, Ramnagar, Champawat and Narender Nagar.

Apart from the staff from the respective divisions 13 newly recruited forest range officers, five from Himachal Pradesh, three from West Bengal, two from Andaman and Nicobar Island and three from Karnataka participated in the training to learn more about the different facets of forestry in general and wildlife protection in particular.

The training programme was conducted in two phases. The first phase of the training was on wildlife laws with respect to the provisions of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and the second phase was on wildlife crime prevention.

The training programme was conceptualized to empower the forest staff involved in anti-poaching activities and forest conservation, on wildlife crime prevention techniques and wildlife laws so that they are well-equipped with all the technical support required to check illegal wildlife crime and protection of wild reserves.

The crime prevention training workshop enlightened the forest staff on new techniques of patrolling, investigation, intelligence gathering and detection of wildlife crimes, while the workshop on wildlife law was conducted to make the participants aware of the provisions of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 under which a wildlife crime could be detected and registered.

Singh says,”The territorial divisions of the forest department are least aware of the wildlife laws since their first priority normally is of protecting the forest. They are more accountable for illegal felling of trees, while the wildlife division of the forest department is more accountable for the protection of wild animals. Therefore in our training workshops we have made an attempt coordinating and reporting on matters that each division functions. Adequate knowledge about all the aspects of forest and wildlife conservation is important to work as a unit across all divisions for protection of wild reserves”.

The Van Rakshak division of the WTI seeks to create a strong, well-equipped and motivated workforce of frontline field staff that can curb poaching and habitat degradation in wildlife areas. The purpose of this division is to provide training for wildlife crime prevention, motivating the forest staff in terms of insurance cover and other morale boasting activities and equipping the forest staff to undertake effective anti-poaching activities. Recognizing and rewarding the forest staff from time to time is also an important part of its aims and objectives. The Van Rakshak division has been training, equipping and building the morale of forest officials all over the country in all the protected areas and reserve forests.

Pictures: Meetu Gupta/WTI