Valmiki Tiger Reserve can be aptly termed as the “Emerald in the Crown of Bihar”, due to the deep green spectrum of colour it imparts on the cartographical representation of the state. However this elegant crown has the potential to become a ‘Crown of Thorns’, thanks to the porous Indo-Nepal Border that runs co-terminally with the western, northern and eastern boundary of the protected area. Not so often, but incidents have been reported near and adjacent to VTR, where this porous border line has proved to the transit point for illegal trade and smuggling of wildlife related articles which are otherwise forbidden in one of the Indian laws for wildlife conservation, the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. Thus as a part of strengthening the wildlife crime prevention measures along the Indo-Nepal Border areas, it has become a necessary part of our course of action in the Terai Region, to bridge the gaps between the concerned state forest departments, protected area managers, the paramilitary forces and the local enforcement agencies, and work in a co-ordinated manner towards the common goal of prevention of illegal transit of wildlife articles and if not exclusive, other associated crimes that are executed along Indo-Nepal border line include narcotics and human trafficking. 

Wildlife Article identification training in progress at VTR | Photo by Pavel Ghosh/WTI

As a part of the coordination building exercise, Wildlife Trust of India conducts multi-agency capacity building workshops across targeted protected areas in the Indo-Nepal Border areas of Terai-Arc Landscape of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar on a regular basis, with collaborating expertise from Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), the statutory apex body of the Government of India to fight wildlife crime in and across the boundaries of India. Under the provisions of the same, a one-day workshop on Illegal Wildlife Article Identification was conducted in each of the two forest divisions of VTR. The first one was conducted in VTR Division-I at Manguraha Range Interpretation Hall on 15th December 2022, while the second one was completed in VTR Division-II at Valmikinagar Range Tutorial Hall on 16th December 2022. The programs were attended by a total of 111 personnel, starting from the 48 frontliners of conservation in VTR- the Forest Department staff from 8 of the ranges, the first line of defence along the Indo-Nepal Border- 43 jawans from 3 different battalions of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and the local security forces- 20 staff from various police stations of Bihar Police and was trained by expert from WCCB-Eastern Region.

Inspector Rajnish of WCCB(NE) displaying wildlife articles during the workshop | Photo by Sunil

The attendees were trained about the various commonly traded illegal wildlife articles in the concerned region. As a part of improving their identification skills, a special session was also arranged in which they were allowed with the chance to have a physical exposure to the samples of commonly traded wildlife articles like elephant ivory, pangolin scales, leopard skin or bag made of crocodile scale. He also explained how to distinguish between a real and fake wildlife article.

Not only was the ground level staff exposed to this session, but also high ranking personnels like Field Director, Deputy Directors and Deputy Commandant were enthusiastic to have a look for the wildlife articles. A new session was also added to this workshop, in which they were taught about methods to identify and hence prevent illegal trade of wildlife items in the virtual space, and also introduced them to the citizen science initiative, CyberHAWK mobile application, in which any individual can report any instance of wildlife crime that he/she may have encountered in the cyber space.

Participants at the workshop | Photo by Navroze/WTI

This workshop has not helped to increase knowledge base of the participating staff, but also helped a newcomer like me, to gain more knowledge and also getting a practical demonstration of such wildlife articles. Moreover, there were requests from the SSB personnel to conduct similar programs in targeted border outposts to bring more and more jawans under the realm of this knowledge and capacity-building exercise.

Vigilant and informed enforcement personnel are a shield against the growing incidences of wildlife trafficking. WTI has been conducting such workshops across the country in a bid to stop wildlife crime and protecting the country’s natural heritage. This project is supported by the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL).