Wildlife dept seeks counters at airports

Smuggling of endangered species

LAHORE

To curb smuggling of endangered species of wildlife especially black-spotted turtle, which is high in demand in Far East Asia, Punjab Wildlife Department has asked permission of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to establish checking counters at all the international airports across the province.

The department wanted to establish independent checking counters at all the airports from where international flights are operative. In this regard, Punjab Wildlife Department has officially initiated correspondence with CAA higher management and is hopeful that they will get desired results.

Recently, Punjab Wildlife Department officials confiscated a consignment of 45 black-spotted turtles from Faisalabad Airport that was ready to be loaded for Malaysia. Director General of the department Khalid Ayaz said Faisalabad airport was relatively unknown for incidents involving illegal wildlife trade and this only happens after the department’s stern and vigilant measures at Lahore airport.

He said the price of one freshwater turtle in the Asian markets was estimated to be $250. He said the department was also working on a point that there might be some turtle farms but because the specie was endangered so its farming was a crime.

Pakistan is a home to eight freshwater turtles, all of them are under serious threat of illegal wildlife trade due to which all eight species are listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

A study of WWF-Pakistan claimed that the scale of the illegal trade was evident from the fact that during 2015 alone, five consignments carrying 1,345 live freshwater turtles and 1.9 ton  their body parts (including dried meat and bones) were checked by the law enforcement agencies, bound for different East Asian countries.

Mohammad Atif Saeed, Inspector Punjab Wildlife and Parks Department said that the offender was recognised as a Karachi-based exporter of dried fish and preserved vegetables to Malaysia. He chose to travel to Malaysia from Faisalabad airport and sourced the turtles from an anonymous Lahore-based dealer through a contact from Karachi and was carrying the species in suitcases, wrapped in multi-coloured fabrics.

Rab Nawaz, Senior Director Biodiversity, WWF-Pakistan pointed out that WWF-Pakistan had been observing an increase in the illegal trade of the black-spotted turtles which were particularly in high demand in the East Asian market. He also mentioned that Pakistan Customs officials ceased two consignments at Lahore airport earlier this year and rescued about 184 black-spotted turtles from traffickers.

He also shared that an undercover market study conducted by WWF-Pakistan as part of a project supported by USAID through its Small Grants and Ambassador Fund Programme in 26 cities of Pakistan, discovered that all surveyed markets deal in illegal trade of wildlife including freshwater turtles. He also pointed out that the freshwater turtles are protected under Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab wildlife protection acts and are included in the revised Wildlife Protection Act of Sindh, despite which their illegal trade continues.

This raises the need to develop a strategy to tackle their illegal trade on an urgent basis ensuring inter-provincial and stakeholder coordination. He highlighted that illicit wildlife trafficking was not only an environment issue and should be treated as a crime; and the root cause is usually livelihood support for marginalised communities which are exploited by illegal trade mafia.

WWF-Pakistan has been working with the government law enforcement agencies and other relevant stakeholders to develop an action plan to control illegal wildlife trade from the country with the financial support of USAID through its Small Grants and Ambassador Fund Programme.

Additionally, this project is also building capacities of relevant agencies to monitor and control wildlife crimes through training and provision of the latest technologies. WWF-Pakistan has trained more than 100 officials from the Pakistan Customs, provincial wildlife departments, Pakistan Maritime Security Agency, Civil Aviation Authority, Airport Security Force, Anti-narcotics Force, Marine Fisheries Department, provincial and federal police, logistic operators, etc so far.

Director General Wildlife Punjab said illegal trade of wildlife had become the second most illegal lucrative business after narcotics across the world. He concluded that the department had also proposed several amendments after which heavy fines and long-term punishments would be awarded to smugglers.