Gangtok: Ahead of the historic reopening of the Nathula Pass in Sikkim that would facilitate border trade with China, wildlife organisations have joined hands to check wildlife crime along the 15,000-ft Himalayan pass.
The Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) in collaboration with World Wide Fund-India (WWF-India) and the Sikkim forest department will conduct a two-day law enforcement workshop here from Friday to sensitise law enforcement agencies in the state to tackle wildlife crime.
Experts will provide guidance to participants on wildlife laws, 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 and excise, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, intelligence bureau, Sashastra Seema Bal and the Indian Army.
Nathula had been an important transit point between India and China before the 1962 war. The need for this workshop was felt after the government’s decision to reopen the border crossing point in Sikkim from July 6.
The pass, also known as the old Silk Route, after its opening will be the shortest route to Lhasa (Tibetan Autonomous Region of China) from India. Wildlife activists fear that traffickers might end up using this route to China for illegal consignments.
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 corroborated involvement of Tibetans in wildlife trafficking.’
Illegal consignments from India to China via border routes in Nepal and elsewhere include tiger and leopard skin, bones, otter pelts and shahtoosh wool, he said.
Dipankar Ghose, programme coordinator of WWF-India in the state, said that his organisation is working closely with various stakeholders like the forest, environment and wildlife management departments and other local NGOs for conservation of flora and fauna.
‘This workshop will provide a platform for cooperation between different enforcement agencies for controlling wildlife crime in Sikkim,’ 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, one of the world’s leading independent security and risk management consultancies.
Indian and Chinese officials who met in Lhasa over the weekend finalised July 6 as the date for formal trading to begin at the 4,545-metre Nathula Pass, 52 km east of the Sikkim capital. In 2003, China gave up its claim over Sikkim in return for India accepting Tibet Autonomous Region as a part of China.
