Participants with Forest Department and WTI team

Valmiki Nagar, November 10, 2015: Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) in partnership with Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) and Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR) imparted training on legal aspects of enforcement of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and Wildlife Crime Prevention to 120 frontline staff of two forest divisions from the nine forest ranges of VTR.

Divided into two batches, the first batch(division 2) had 80 participants that included Range Officers, Forest Guards, Foresters and casual staff and 40 participants were registered in second batch (division 1) at Gobardhana range office. The three days’ training course was divided into two modules. The participants, who performed satisfactorily in the pre-training assessment on Day 1, continued in the 2nd and 3rd day of the training, which included in-depth discussion on the topics. Altogether, 70 VTR personnel continued the training on day 2 and 3 training.

The idea of this training was to ensure that frontline forest staff of Valmiki is well versed with various legal aspects such as Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and its various sections to ensure appropriate documentation and court proceedings in a fool proof manner. The course included crime prevention topics like anti-poaching patrolling techniques, intelligence gathering, interrogation techniques, crime scene investigation, and preparation of Preliminary Offence Report (POR).

Certificates being distributed to trainees

“The training is useful for all forest personnel working in VTR. I hope the tiger reserve management will be better prepared to fight wildlife crimes and attend to more cases after this training programme,” said RB Singh, Field Director, VTR. Senior forest officials who attended the training included Sashikant Kumar, IFS officer on probation in VTR, and HK Roy, Divisional Forest Officer, Bettiah. Public prosecutor dealing the forest and wildlife cases also took part in the training sessions.

The training laid emphasis on the understanding of the various concepts, and the common mistakes often committed by frontline forest staff while preparing the POR and Crime Scene Investigation. They were briefed about the importance of the independent witnesses during raid operations and the various procedures for collection and preservation of evidences. “WTI is committed to continue support to VTR to contain wildlife crime and protect its biodiversity”, said Dr Samir Kumar Sinha, Regional Head, Wildlife Trust of India.

The trainers included Dr Samir Kumar Sinha, Advocate Yash Kumar Soni, Rudra Mahapatra, Achintya Tripathi and Tenzin Norsang. In a bid to equip and strengthen the frontline forest staff of the country, WTI has been conducting Wildlife Crime Prevention Training Programme under Van RakshakProgramme (VRP) since 2001. VRP follows a multi-pronged strategy with four thrust areas abbreviated as TEAM: Training, Equipping, Awareness and Morale Boosting, to broadly facilitate capacity building and strengthen spirits of personnel in tough field conditions.