A two-day long workshop on wildlife conservation was organised by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) focussed on ‘Emerging Trends and Future Challenges in the Wildlife Sector'. Participants included forest secretaries, Principal Chief Conservators of Forests and Chief Wildlife Wardens from 17 states.
Member secretary of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, Rajesh Gopal and IG Wildlife, Ministry of Forest (Government of India) Dr Anmol Kumar were also present. Speaking to the press, Professor V.K. Malkani of WII emphasised the importance of this workshop for people working in the conservation field. He also spoke of the need to extend tiger protection to connecting regions around Protected Areas.
Issues discussed during the workshop included tiger conservation, the availability of prey base for tigers, poaching, man-animal conflict, rehabilitation of communities from forest areas and the need for increased awareness on wildlife conservation.
In the first session, Dr. Y.V. Jhala of WII gave a presentation on ‘Poaching, Corridors & Critical Core's Conserving Tiger Landscapes'. He spoke about the change in tiger distribution across the country over the last 100 years, the flourishing trade in tiger body parts and the hunting of tiger prey species by humans. A part of his presentation focussed on the use and efficacy of GPS Satellite Radio Collars.
Member Secretary of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, Rajesh Gopal spoke of how some Forest Departments had employed the use of Radio Collars with the help of WII and urged the Corbett Tiger Reserve and Uttarakhand Government to implement the same system in their parks. He also discussed the efforts of the Government of India and respective State Governments in curbing the development of resorts and hotels around reserves and the need to promote eco-tourism that benefited and complimented wildlife conservation.
