WPSI’s Wildlife Law Enforcement Workshops are highly interactive sessions where important enforcement and legal information is discussed in an open forum. WPSI’s workshops do not lecture to the audience; they are successful because they depend on the active participation of everyone involved. The workshops are site specific and the aim is to share information, learn from participants' experiences, and provide assistance that will enable them to become more effective in combating wildlife crime.

Our Approach

Each workshop begins with an illustrated talk providing an overview of the illegal wildlife trade. This includes information on methods employed by poachers and traders, practical tips on the identification of species, and ways of identifying fake products. The importance of building an effective information network to identify wildlife criminals is also stressed.

This is followed by a legal session that is conducted by a WPSI lawyer. The level of knowledge of the participants of The Wild Life (Protection) Act is first assessed to identify areas of weakness that need to be addressed. Important sections of the Act are then explained, and specific cases that the participants bring up are discussed. WPSI’s team also stresses the need to build strong cases based on thorough investigations and to have complete and accurate paperwork; in other words, cases that are well prepared most often lead to convictions. At the end of the workshops, practical exercises are conducted where participants are given an example situation for which they need to assess what kind of documents should be prepared and what evidence needs to monitored etc. At some workshops, enforcement personnel conduct refresher courses on the handling and management of firearms.

As a result of this approach, the workshops have proved to be extremely effective. They have gained a strong reputation for being practical and interactive, and there has been a clear improvement in the performance of enforcement agencies involved. We now receive requests to conduct workshops throughout India. We taken on those that are in most urgent need of training, and those that are likely to use the knowledge and skills provided most effectively.

Copies of The Wild Life (Protection) Act and other resource material is distributed to the workshop participants. A WPSI manual on wildlife crimes has also been given to every senior police officer in India by the country’s premier enforcement agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Current Status

In collaboration with state governments, tiger reserve managements and enforcement authorities, since 2000, WPSI has hosted nearly 190 wildlife enforcement workshops and provided training to about 7,800 forest, police and customs officers in 17 states throughout India. WPSI’s Director Central India conducts workshops in the central Indian states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh to assist with effective anti-poaching and wildlife law enforcement.

Workshops have been held at Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh), Kaziranga National Park (Assam), T.M. Bhagalpur University (Bihar), Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Central Bureau of Investigation (Delhi), Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar (Gujarat), Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir), Bhadra Tiger Reserve, Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Dandeli Tiger Reserve and Shimoga (Karnataka), Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), Kanha Tiger Reserve,  Pench Tiger Reserve, Panna Tiger Reserve, Satpura Tiger Reserve, Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Mandla, Guna, Seoni, Katni, Balaghat, Hoshangabad, Chhindwara, Shahdol, Betul, Harda, Obaidullaganj, Raisen, Vidisha, Parasiya, Anuppur, Kundam and Dindori (Madhya Pradesh), Tadoba Tiger Reserve, Satpura Tiger Reserve, Nagpur, Melghat Tiger Reserve, Chandrapur, Bramhapuri, West Chanda, Sakoli, Wardha, Chikhaldara, Warsa, Alapalli, Bor and Gondia (Maharashtra), Bhubaneshwar (Orissa), Punjab Police Training Academy (Punjab), Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve and Jaipur (Rajasthan), Ramanathapuram (Tamil Nadu),Corbett Tiger Reserve, Dehradun, Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (Uttar Pradesh), Kalagarh, Nainital, Nanda Devi National Park and Joshimath (Uttarakhand) and Sundarban Tiger Reserve (West Bengal).

In many of these places more than one workshop has been held over the past few years. Workshops have also been held in government training institutions throughout the country.