Frontline staffs undergo wildlife crime prevention training

PASIGHAT, 15 Nov: A three-day wildlife crime prevention training for frontline staffs was conducted by Wildlife Trust of India in Pasighat collaboration with Pasighat Territorial Division under department of environment, forest and climate change (DoEFCC) at the D’ Ering Wildlife Sanctuary here from 11 to 13 November last.

Organized with support of World Land Trust under D’Ering- Dibru Saikhowa Elephant Link Project (DDS), the training session focused on deepening understanding of Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972, providing hands-on field training in investigating wildlife crime scene and implementation of law in building strong legal cases during the seizures.

The training was attended by 27 frontline staffs of Pasighat Territorial Division under the leadership of resource person Pradipty Bhardwaj for legal session and Monesh Singh Tomar on wildlife crime investigation, in presence of DFO, Pasighat division Hano Moda and regional coordinator, WTI Panjit Basumatary.

Participants had the opportunity to delve into comprehensive knowledge about legal responsibilities of frontline staffs, practices of reporting wildlife crime, identifying wildlife articles, documentation and evidence collection of wildlife crime and proceeding of wildlife crime cases in the courtroom. Pre and post test were also conducted to assess the impact of training process. Participants also engaged in role plays and mock investigation through stimulated scenarios to practice response to wildlife crime incidents.

Later, field kits and certificates were distributed among the participants.