A one-day workshop on counter wildlife and biodiversity conservation, organized by the Nagaland Forest Department Wildlife Conservation-India & The Nagaland State Biodiversity Board, was held on 12th March 2022 at Tiyi Hall, Wokha.
ADC Wokha, Lankonsen T Tsanglao, addressing the gathering, lauded the Department of Forest for taking the initiative to sensitize the public about the importance of conserving wildlife, and our ecosystem. He said wild animals have always been a critical resource for human beings, and our forefathers had practiced hunting since time immemorial as a source of food which were key for their survival but now the age-old practice of hunting should be discouraged and focus on conserving our ecosystem for our present and future generation since many species are getting extinct. He suggested more such workshops to be organized especially in the rural areas to educate the people. He urged all sections of people to support the forest department in their fight for the protection of our environment.
Chairman, Nagaland State Biodiversity Board, Satya Prakash Tripathi, IFS (Retd) shared various aspects on community involvement in the conservation of wildlife to ensure that wildlife management policies are effectively implemented such workshops and training are essential to sensitize the public and sought cooperation from all section to work together to conserve our wildlife and environment.
Team Leader, WCS-India, Dev Prakash Bankhwal, IFS (Retd) said the primary threat to the survival of wildlife is due to destruction fragmentation, and degradation of habitats, when ecosystem changes dramatically by activities of human being wildlife can no longer survive, he advocated that the community needs to create certified wildlife habitat and preservation of forest so that animals can use the water source, food and find a good shelter to survive. He also emphasized on illegal wildlife trade which he said is a very serious offense and called upon the Police and the Forest department to work together in enforcing the acts to control such menace.
Steve Odyuo from Natural Nagas said various human activities result in wildlife decline and activities like hunting, illegal mining, poaching illegal use of chemicals in the river, and exploitation of forest resources need to be seriously addressed.
In the technical session, Rishika Gupta, WCS-India spoke on wildlife crime global, national and local scenario drivers, Law enforcement. Shubhra Sotie, WCS-India dwelled on scheduled animals, wild animals, meat, trophy, uncured trophy, weapons, vehicles, etc. Other topics like community conservation of biodiversity in Nagaland, issues related to the human-elephant conflict in Wokha, identification of commonly traded species, and court procedure were highlighted by the resource persons for the workshop Shubhra Sotie, Suman W M Sivachar IFS, DFO Wokha, and D P Bankhwal IFS (Retd).
(Zubenthung, IA Wokha)
