EMN
DIMAPUR January 19
A two-day training workshop for forest and police officers is underway in Dimapur. The event was jointly organized by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, and the department of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. The event is for January 19 and the 20th and is being conducted in Dimapur.
Kamal Dutta, joint director of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau gave a brief background of the bureau and appreciated people’s participation in the ‘success story of Amur Falcon which brought laurels to the state, nationally and internationally.’ He said that the Union Forest Minister, Prakash Javadekar was ‘very happy in seeing people’s participation in wildlife conservation and in general and Amur Falcon conservation in particular.’
Dutta also mentioned that the Union Forest Minister, ‘extremely impressed’ about Nagaland’s efforts in the conservation of the Amur Falcon, shared the success story with his colleagues in the ministry and the central department. The joint director said that ‘we need to bring many more laurels to the state,’ and appealed to all in concern ‘for synergic (sic) action to combat wildlife crime.’
Also addressing the gathering, deputy commissioner of Dimapur Kesonyu Yhome appreciated the efforts taken by the Forest department. However, he said that ‘awareness’ alone will not be sufficient. ‘Socioeconomic development and effective enforcement needs to be in place for wildlife conservation,’ he said and assured all the support from district administration in curbing wildlife crimes.
T Amenba Yaden, parliamentary secretary for the department of Commerce and Industries, attended the occasion as the chief guest. He expressed ‘surprise’ that Nagaland was ‘no more the state of petty hunting by simple village folks but global transit hub of illegal wildlife products transported through Dimapur-Manipur-Myanmar.’
According to the politician, headhunting was brought to halt by the advent of Christianity but ‘unfortunately wildlife hunting continued.’ He emphasized on ‘creating awareness’ for wildlife conservation and called for coordination among various enforcement agencies, both at state as well as the central level to control wildlife crimes.
Also, Satya Prakash Tripathi, chief wildlife warden of Nagaland highlighted the ‘sincere efforts of the Forest department in motivating people of the state and inculcating the idea of wildlife conservation in the minds of people.’
