Wildlife Law Enforcement Training Workshops...
WPSI’s Wildlife Law Enforcement
Workshops are highly interactive sessions where important enforcement
and legal information is shared and 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. Programmes are tailored to fit in with
participants’ knowledge of the law and their capacity to
absorb detailed legal facts and issues.
Participants are encouraged to express their point of view and to
question WPSI’s information and strategy. Our clear message
is that it we want to share information, learn from participants'
experiences, and provide assistance that will enable them to become
more effective in combating wildlife crime.
Each
workshop starts with an illustrated talk providing an overview
of the illegal wildlife trade. This includes information on methods
used 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.
The
legal session is conducted by a WPSI lawyer. First, a questionnaire is
given to the participants to check their level of knowledge of The Wild
Life (Protection) Act, and to identify areas of weakness that need to
be addressed. Next, important sections of the Act are 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 enough prepared to lead
to convictions. 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 from enforcement agencies throughout India. We accept those
that are in most urgent need of help and training, and those that are
likely to use knowledge and skills most effectively.
Since
August 2000, WPSI has held over a 100 of these workshops in 15 states.
They were at: Kalagarh (Uttaranchal), Corbett Tiger Reserve (Uttar
Pradesh), Punjab Police Training Academy, Bandipur Tiger Reserve
(Karnataka), Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (Madhya Pradesh), Sundarban
Tiger Reserve (West Bengal), Balaghat (Madhya Pradesh, Chandrapur
(Maharashtra), Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), Katni (Madhya Pradesh),
T.M. Bhagalpur University (Bihar), Shimoga (Karnataka), Central Bureau
of Investigation (Delhi), Kaziranga National Park (Assam),
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), Gandhinagar (Gujarat), Nandadevi
National Park (Uttaranchal), Srinagar (Jammu and
Kashmir), Nainital Zoo (Uttaranchal), Ramanathapuram (Tamil
Nadu), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh). In some of the above mentioned places
more than one workshop has been held over the past few years- Katni,
Bhopal, Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, Kalagarh and Thiruvananthapuram for
instance. More than 1500 participants from State Forest Departments,
Police Departments, the Central Bureau of Investigation, Customs
Department, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Honorary Wildlife Wardens,
advocates, and other NGOs have attended the workshops.
In
addition to these workshops, conducted by our legal team, WPSI Director
of Central India conducts micro workshops on a smaller scale in the
Central Indian States, largely to do with anti-poaching and the fine
tuning of enforcement methods. Some of the places in which these
workshops were conducted are Bhopal, Hoshangabad, Seoni, Panna Tiger
Reserve, Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, Tadoba Tiger Reserve in Madhya
Pradesh and Chandrapur (Maharashtra). A total of 327 Forest Department
personnel participated in these micro workhops. In Tadoba Tiger Reserve
participants included judges as well.
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