Participants posing for a group photograph. 

Gelephu, June 19, 2015: A series of four workshops on countering wildlife trafficking at the Indo-Bhutan border were conducted by IFAW-WTI in Bhutan last week by a joint team of experts from India and Bhutan. The workshops were conducted in the border towns of Gelephu, Samste, Phunstholing and Samdrupjongkhar from June 13 to June 19. Selected representatives from Bhutan attended the workshop, including 129 enforcement officials from various enforcement agencies. Personnel from Army, Police, Customs, Bhutan Agriculture and Food Regulatory Authority and Forest Department participated in these workshops. The day-long workshop is part of IFAW-WTI’s ongoing wildlife crime control efforts in association with Bhutan’s Department of Forests and Park Services which kick started in 2011.

With these workshops at the border area, IFAW-WTI team aims to sensitise various enforcement agencies on wildlife crimes and the importance of countering it effectively to ensure that the wildlife goods from India do not enter into the transit route.

“As we work in the border area, we come across various types of cross border crimes and the possibility of wildlife trafficking happening in the area cannot be ruled out. Since we don’t have the necessary expertise to identify trafficked goods and people involved in wildlife crimes, we often fail to recognize them. As a person who is responsible for screening foreigners who enter into the country for work or business, I need to know more about such crimes too,” said Sonam Tshering, Regional Liaison Officer with Bhutan’s Immigration Department. He was one of those attended the training at Gelephu.

A fake tiger claw being displayed during the training

The Indo-Bhutan border sees a lot of movement of goods and people and considering how porous these borders are, it is becoming a favorite route for wildlife traffickers who use this route to smuggle goods to China and other countries. The instances of wildlife seizures by enforcement agencies have seen a sharp spike in these bordering towns in the recent past. “It is strategically important to counter crimes at the border where chances of detection of illegal goods are much higher. We need to ensure that all these enforcement agencies can detect wildlife goods at the border”, said Jose Louies, IFAW- WTI trainer.

Mr. Chhoglay Namgyal, Forestry Officer, Forestry Protection and Surveillance Unit, Bhutan, during his sessions discussed in great detail the legal procedures such as detaining a suspect, fines as per the law, what to do with the seized goods and rewards for the staff.

During the workshop, the participants were given samples of wildlife goods which are commonly traded in the region so that they can touch, feel and even smell these items. “I’ve never seen a pangolin scale, even though I have seen lot of pangolins in my area. On seeing one, I could not make out whether it was a pangolin scale that is traded in market. It was indeed a learning experience for me,” said one of the participants from the Customs Department who is posted near the border area.

Participants getting a feel of fake and real animal skins

Most of the participants had first time experience of examining real and fake wildlife goods such as skins of tiger, leopard and clouded leopard. Samples of ivory, bones, pangolin scales, fake and genuine musk pods, bear bile samples, et al, were also put on display.

Participants were very inquisitive about these items and discussions spilled over tea breaks as trainers were explaining and clarifying doubts on identifying various wildlife articles, their use and which animal they belong to.

Mr. Sonam Wangdi, Chief Forestry Officer, Samtse Forest Division, was quick to act and started an interagency group that would share information related to wildlife crimes with all enforcement agencies since inter-agency coordination on crime management was found to be an area that needed major improvement in countering wildlife crimes.

Participants during the course of training

“Since my team is working across the country monitoring wildlife and forestry crimes, support and involvement from other enforcement agencies will help us a lot. Each of these enforcement agencies can pick up information and pass the same to our unit, or work together on specific leads which could result in busting of gangs and preventing wildlife trafficking across Bhutan,” said Mr. Namgyal. Mr. Dorji from the Royal Bhutan Police said that this is the first time he is attending a training exercise on wildlife crime management in 15 years of service.

The workshop also aimed to prevent wildlife crimes in Bhutan. Since Bhutan has a rich diversity of wildlife such as tiger, leopard, elephant and pangolin, it is considered a safe route for transporting wildlife products from India to China. This is the fourth training conducted by IFAW-WTI since 2011 in Bhutan on combating wildlife crimes in the country.