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Union Minister of Environment and Forest Prakash Javadekar on Friday expressed anguish over the unabated poaching of the rare one-horned rhinoceros in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park and the rapid shrinking of forest cover in the northeast region.
Arriving in Guwahati for a two-day visit including a day-long trip to the national park to take stock of rhino conservation measures and existing infrastructure, Javadekar said that the Centre wanted to put a stop to poaching. “My colleagues in the Parliament have been expressing concern over rhino killings in Assam and have asked me to conduct an on-the-spot study of the matter. I will talk to forest officials, conservation workers and people’s organisations to get facts on the issue,” the MoEF said.
On his arrival in Guwahati, a prominent research-based nature conservation organisation in the northeast -- Aaranyak -- submitted to Javadekar details on rhino conservation efforts in the state.
According to Aaranyak, currently there are 2,553 rhinos in Assam (as per the state forest department’s census in 2013) with 2,329 dwelling in Kaziranga, 100 in the Orang national park, 93 in Pabitora wild life sanctuary and 31 in the Manas national park.
According to data available on mortality, 41 rhinos were killed in Assam last year including 27 in Kaziranga, two in Pabitora, four in Orang, four in Manas and six others outside protected areas mainly near Kaziranga. Twenty-two rhinos were killed by poachers in Assam till September 3 this year.
Aaranyak apprised the MoEF on following challenges in conserving rhinos:
1. Recent high demand for rhino horn in China and Southeast Asian countries.
2. Insufficient intelligence gathering and field-based action for tracing the poachers’ networks.
3. Low rate of conviction of the suspects due to improper legal procedures and lack of proper evidence-gathering mechanism.
4. Permeability of the protected area boundaries and insufficient anti-poaching camps and patrolling at the border areas.
5. Insufficient government action for providing security, basic facilities like uniform, water filter and boosting the morale of the frontline forest staff and field officers.
6. Lack of mechanism for monitoring and protection of straying rhinos outside the protected areas.
7. Poor coordination of the forest department with residents, local organisations and other government agencies in generating support for conservation and protection.
8. Delay in release of funds to the protected areas by the government.
9. Lack of expert guidance in understanding the root causes behind poaching, leading to the failure of protests in effectively pressuring the government.
The environment ministry was informed that the Assam forest department had not recruited sufficient number of rangers and forest guards to strengthen the field staff. This has resulted in a top-heavy situation where there are many officers in the department but insufficient number of trained personnel to carry out conservation duty. Field staff should be recruited from among locals living in the vicinity of protected areas so that they remain supportive to the conservation efforts.
The green brigade highlighted the need for arranging for refresher courses for frontline forest staff on anti-poaching actions, weapon use and maintenance training besides providing housing facilities, healthcare, insurance cover to them and other workers employed in national parks and school facilities for their children.
The ministry was urged to constitute local monitoring committees involving residents, organisations, honorary wildlife wardens and other stakeholders regarding conservation in and around the rhino-bearing protected areas.
There was a request to form armed protection squads trained by the army along the lines adopted in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana with modern armaments, electronic surveillance and vehicles for protection and anti-poaching actions both outside and inside protected areas.
Some other demands submitted to the MoEF:
1. There should be compulsory service provision to work for five initial years in wildlife areas for newly recruited forest guards and foresters.
2. The government should make forensic investigation of each poaching case and seizure mandatory so that the conviction rate for the suspects apprehended by the law implementing agencies could be increased.
3. The government must introduce a strong system of accountability for higher officers in the forest department responsible for management and protection of rhino-bearing protected areas.
4. Deployment of sniffer dog units as an effective anti-poaching measure.
5. Taking up rhino poaching and rhino horn smuggling investigations in Nagaland and Manipur.
Image: Twenty-two rhinos were killed by poachers in Assam till September