Legal and Advocacy Programme

Legal Orientation Project:

The success of any anti-poaching efforts will ultimately depend on the rate of conviction. Due to lack of orientation and poor interpretation skills of the forest staffs, the existing wildlife, forest and environment laws are either not enforced or used properly to increase the rate of conviction to the poachers and smugglers involved in the illegal trade on wildlife contraband. Aaranyak has for the first time in North East India, started the legal orientation programme for the forest officials working in the Wildlife Sanctuaries and National Parks in Assam in 1996. Since then, covering almost all the protected areas of Assam, Aaranyak has organised more than 12 legal orientation programmes. Advocate Gautom Uzir of Gauhati High Court is the Chief Legal Advisor of Aaranyak, who is in-charge of conducting the legal orientation camps for the benefit of forest staffs in Assam. Since 2006, Mr,. Ajoy Kumar Das has joined Aaranyak as Project Officer of the Legal programme.

           Justice I.A. Ansari delivering a lecture             Participants at a  Legal Orientation Workshop

The legal orientation camps often cover the laws like the Indian Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 as ammended in 2006, Forest Conservation Act of 1980, Environment Protection Act of 1986, Indian Panel Code of 1860, Code of criminal Procedure of 1973, Indian Evidence Act of 1872, Arms Act of 1959, Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Act of 1960 etc. The species included in Appendix 1 of CITES are also discussed in such legal orientation camps.

Hon'ble Governor of Assam inaugurates the Training on Wildlife Crime Management

A Legal Orietnation Workshop was organised by Aaranyak at Guwahati from 12-14 March 2007 in collaboration with Assam Forest Department, British Council and British Deputy High Commission, which was inaugurated by the his Excellency the Governor of Assam. Forest and custom officials of North East India attended this workshop and a total of 38 participants have attended this three days workshop held at the Indian Institute of Bank Management, Khanapara, Guwahati.

Wildlife Crime Monitoring Project (WCMP)

Conservation Advocacy Project: Under the conservation advocacy project, Aaranyak took strong advocacy initiatives for Manas National Park that falls under the Bodo Territorial Autonomous Districts (BTAD) and had discussion with the BTAD officials. The Secretary General of Aaranyak was part of the seven men expert committee set up by the Forest Minister of Assam to formulate the new Assam Forest Policy 2004. Further Firoz Ahmed and Hillol Jyoti Singha has been designated as Honorary Wildlife Warden of Assam Forest Department by Govt. Notification. Aaranyak has also been made a member of the State Board of Wildlife, Govt. of Assam.