Asia Trains to Strengthen Protection of Forests and Wildlife
Khao Yai National Park, THAILAND (April 10, 2012) – Officials from 11 Asian countries trained together intensively for two weeks at Thailand’s World Heritage-listed Khao Yai National Park during March to learn best-practice methods for strengthening forest and wildlife protections.
Twenty-five protected area managers from the ASEAN and South Asia regions participated in the PROTECT (Protected area Operational and Tactical Enforcement Conservation Training) course, including representatives from Bhutan, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, India, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.
These ‘guardians of nature’ are jointly responsible for the protection of some of Asia’s largest remaining tracts of natural forest and rarest endemic species. They face major challenges and dangers on a daily basis, while striving to secure wildlife and habitats from opportunistic poachers and professionally organized, well-equipped criminal gangs.
Almost all park protection training around the world has been directed at increasing capacity for anti-poaching patrol rangers. This is vital to improving protection for forests and wildlife, but must be overseen by managers that can strategically utilize their trained human resources effectively. Efficient and strategic management is crucial, given the vast areas under threat.
Covering staff training, resource management and strategic planning, this PROTECT course for managers helps senior park officials develop abilities to counter poaching and adapt to trends in crimes that impact their parks.
"We're learning a lot of new methods from the instructors. We’re also learning a lot from the friends we are making here at the training. Many of them come from situations very similar to India and we have a lot to share in terms of potential solutions to common problems," said Dileep Gaonkar, a Divisional Forest Officer from Bhadra Tiger Reserve in Karnataka, India, during the course.
“I’m also getting a chance to use state-of-the-art patrolling equipment that I'm very interested in providing my staff,” he added.
Wildlife and forests throughout Asia are under fierce attack by poachers, traffickers and illegal loggers. Poaching gangs are plundering the region’s forests to supply larger trafficking syndicates with everything from tigers, leopards, bears, pangolins and elephant ivory, to plants and timber, such as orchids, aloe wood, rosewood, and other valuable timber species. With finite resources available to park managers, targeted park patrolling and enforcement is critical to protecting wildlife and habitats.
The course also took participants to visit a nearby community outreach program that promotes organic mushroom farming as a sustainable and reliable livelihood for impoverished communities vulnerable to recruitment by traffickers.
Improved gender equality in capacity development for protected area management (usually a male dominated profession), was advanced through the inclusion of four women officials from China, Philippines and Thailand.
"I've never attended a training like this before. It’s helpful for me and for forest protection in China. I can share what I've learned here to fellow Chinese forestry police," said Xiaoyu Zhu, a Superintendent from the Forest Security Bureau of China's State forestry Administration.
This course was conducted by FREELAND Foundation under the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) sponsored Asia’s Regional Response to Endangered Species Trafficking (ARREST) Program. Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) collaboratively hosted the training. Broad participation was facilitated with support from the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN) and South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SA-WEN).
