Gangtok: Ahead of the historic re-opening of the Nathula Pass in Sikkim that would facilitate border trade with China, the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) in collaboration with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-India) and the government will conduct a two-day Law Enforcement Workshop in Gangtok.

The workshop planned on June 23 and 24, is supported by the Hill & Associates (India) Pvt. Ltd.

The main objective of the workshop is to sensitize law enforcement agencies in the state to tackle wildlife crime. Experts from WTI and WWF will provide guidance to the participants on wildlife law, identification of wildlife products, confiscation, apprehending offenders, steps to strengthen prosecution, and effectively network with different agencies.

Participants include representatives from the Forest Department, Police, Customs & Excise, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Intelligence Bureau, Sashastra Seema Bal and the Indian Army.

Ashok Kumar, Vice Chairman of WTI said, “This workshop will provide technical expertise to enforcement agencies to check and apprehend wildlife traffickers. Earlier, wildlife seizures made by the Delhi police and other agencies corroborates involvement of Tibetans in wildlife trafficking.”

Illegal wildlife consignments from India to China include tiger and leopard skin, bones, bear biles, otter pelts and shahtoosh wool is brought to India via border routes in Nepal and elsewhere.

Nathula had been an important transit point between India and China. For the first time since 1962, a steady traffic of cross border trade is being anticipated through this pass. The need for the workshop was felt after the Government’s decision to re-open the border crossing point in July this year. This will be the shortest route to Lhasa (Tibetan Autonomous Region of China) from India and there have been apprehensions that traffickers might end up using this route for illegal wildlife consignments.

Dr. Dipankar Ghose, Programme Coordinator WWF-India Sikkim said, “WWF-India is working closely with various stakeholders like the Forest, Environment and Wildlife Management Department, Govt. of Sikkim, the Mountain Institute and other local NGOs for conservation of wild flora and fauna in the state.”

“This workshop will provide a platform for cooperation between different enforcement agencies for controlling wildlife crime in the state.” Ghose said.

“We work closely with the local communities as part of our commitment towards social development. We offer our clients the assurance of operating in difficult environments, by helping them mitigate the non financial risks,” said Ashish Sonal, Country Manager of Hill & Associates services, one of the world’s leading independent security and risk management consultancies.

Indian and Chinese officials who met in Lhasa over the weekend finalized July 6 as the date for formal reopening of the 4,545 meter Nathula Pass, 52 kms east of the Sikkim capital.