Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Md Shahab Uddin has said that the government is working sincerely to curb illegal wildlife trade.
“Strategies are being identified to thwart the people who control illegal wildlife trade. Significant progress has been made under the leadership of the Forest Department in strengthening the capacity of law enforcement officers in detecting, identifying and prosecuting wildlife crimes,” he said.
The Environment Minister made the statement while speaking as the chief guest at the inaugural function of the ‘Consultation Meeting on Strengthening Law Enforcement in Combating Illegal Wildlife Trade’, organized by the Forest Department and Wildlife Conservation Society at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel on Wednesday.
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He said that a strategic plan would be formulated among the concerned sectors to jointly curb the illegal trade in wildlife.
“Initiatives will be taken to effectively implement laws, programmes and projects to curb wildlife crime,” he added.
He called upon the concerned agencies to take practical steps to eradicate the illegal wildlife trade regulators.
Putting emphasis on the need to intensify public awareness activities on the negative consequences of wildlife crime, he said “Strict punishment will be ensured by bringing the wildlife criminals under the law. We must all come forward to protect forests and wildlife in our own interest.”
The meeting was chaired by Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Md Mostafa Kamal.
Deputy Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Habibun Nahar, Additional Secretary (Administration) Iqbal Abdullah Harun, Chief Conservator of Forests Md Amir Hossain Chowdhury and Jahangir Alam, Country Representative of the Wildlife Conservation Society spoke as special guests at the meeting.
Following the inaugural ceremony, officials from various agencies, including USAID, UNODC and NGO Affairs Bureau, and officials from various ministries and law enforcement agencies also spoke on what needs to be done to strengthen law enforcement to curb the illegal trade of wildlife.
