South Asia is home to 13-15% of the world’s biodiversity including some of the most endangered species on Earth. Habitats across Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal are home to over 65% of the 3,000 or so remaining wild tigers. With South Asia’s rich biodiversity, the region is a lucrative target of the illegal wildlife trade. The Government of Bangladesh along with Nepal and Bhutan has joined the “Strengthening Regional Cooperation in Wildlife Protection in Asia” project to conserve wildlife and tackle illegal wildlife trade. India is likely to join soon. This is the first World Bank supported regional project for South Asia.
The project supports the Bangladesh Forest Department to enforce newly enacted Wildlife (Conservation and Security) Act 2012. The Parliament approved the act on July 10, 2012. In addition to strengthening the capacity of the Wildlife Circle, the project will support the establishment of a Wildlife Center to undertake training, research, education and awareness on the issues of wildlife conservation and protection. The Bangladesh Forest Department is in the process of selecting the site for the Wildlife Center.
As mandated by the new Act, the project will support creation of a Wildlife Crime Control Unit to carry out forensics, quarantine, and provide legal support to Bangladesh in discharging its responsibilities as a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
A Wildlife and Forest Crime Analytic Toolkit has been prepared by the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) with the support of CITES, INTERPOL, World Customs Organization and the World Bank. The five agencies have formed the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC). The toolkit is currently being piloted so Bangladesh. The toolkit provides a range of options that will enable each country to create an effective strategy tailored to its unique needs.
The Bangladesh Forest Department has enhanced patrolling in the Sundarbans. The project also started protection programs to save sea turtle eggs at Sonadia Island in Cox’s Bazzar and Gharials in the stretch of Padma River in Rajshahi District. The Wildlife Circle of the Forest Department was able to recover six tiger skins, 25 deer skins, 450 kg of venison and 3000 birds illegally captured. The number of arrests for wildlife crime in Bangladesh is now in peak in the last ten years. No single country can manage the threats of poaching and illegal wildlife trade on its own. Wildlife are poached in one country, stockpiled in another, and then traded beyond the South Asia region. The project aims to bring about regional collaboration in combating wildlife crime through strengthened legislative and regulatory frameworks, well equipped specialized agencies, as well as relevant training and awareness programs for staff across the range of agencies that contribute to the enforcement of wildlife laws and regulations.
The project will also fill crucial knowledge gaps in addressing the regional threats to conservation. It entails the creation of a network including scientists and practitioners in wildlife conservation in South Asia. This will expand the scope and quality of research in wildlife conservation needed to develop a common response against illegal wildlife trade and address other regional conservation issues. The Forest Department is implementing the five year long 36.0 million project that commenced on June 2011.
Source: Energybangla.com
