Zero tolerance to wildlife trade: Prakash Javadekar

On World Environment Day, Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar, MP Gopal Shetty and MLA Prakash Surve symbolically burn confiscated wildlife articles at Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Borivali. (Photo: Asian Age)

In order to strengthen the action plan against poaching activities in protected forests and conservation of wildlife, the environment ministry has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United States to develop an anti-poaching mechanism. Confirming the news on the occasion of World Environment Day, Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar who was at Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) on Sunday said there would be zero tolerance towards illegal wildlife trade.

Releasing a leaflet on ‘Living With The Leopards’, the forest ministry said it would now stress on co-existence awareness amongst the residents living around SGNP who frequently sight leopards.

With its focus on wildlife protection, the forest ministry has strongly opposed the idea of buying wildlife products. Mr Javadekar said the ‘shoot at sight’ orders given to armed guards at the Kaziranga National Park in Assam had resulted in the death of 24 poachers. He appealed to the people not to buy any product made from wild animal body parts. “If there is no market for the products, poaching will end automatically,” he said.

Focusing on the efforts of the ministry to curb illegal wildlife trade, Mr Javadekar said signing the MoU with the US would help get the latest technology to arrest the poachers active in the protected forests. Only a few months back, discovery of snares and metal wires in Aarey Colony had raised the suspicion of probable poaching activities in the buffer zone of the protected forest, which is also home to nine leopards.

In SGNP alone, 35 leopards and a range of other animals reportedly co-exist, surrounded by densely populated north Mumbai. “SGNP is a perfect example of human-wildlife harmony. There are so many tribal pockets, rich wildlife; yet, there has not been an instance of man-animal conflict in the park. This is a case of human-wildlife harmony that has been made possible by many efforts and it will continue in the future as well,” said Mr Javadekar.

Mr Javadekar said that in the last two years, there have been strong anti-poaching efforts due to which four poachers were killed in Kaziranga National Park. He said poachers in other wildlife sanctuaries have also been nabbed and cases against them are being pursued. “We will encourage water and fodder augmentation in urban forests and wildlife sanctuaries,” he said.

Human-nonhuman conflict experts on the other hand have been repeatedly pointing out that short-staffed forest departments struggle against the poachers.