Crime Prevention NER

Northeast region (NER) of India and West Bengal boast rich biodiversity and unique ecosystems, intertwined with vibrant socio-cultural diversity. Illegal wildlife trade in these regions presents a complex and sensitive issue, imperilling endangered wildlife and ecological harmony, and adversely affecting local communities. Porous international borders exacerbate the risk of transborder trafficking, with reports indicating a concerning influx and efflux of species, emphasising the urgent need for robust intervention.

This project aims to strengthen ongoing conservation efforts in the landscape and facilitate collaborative partnerships to reduce the threat of trafficking. Through open-source information analysis and stakeholder consultations, we aim to deepen our understanding of wildlife trafficking dynamics across the region. Adopting a crime-science approach, enables us to develop site-specific conservation strategies for pivotal species like pangolins, enhancing their protection. Through our Helpline, our expert biologists and lawyers offer crucial support to law enforcement in combating wildlife crime.  By identifying essential training needs for law enforcement agencies, we refine our capacity-development strategies, conducting targeted training to strengthen state-level agencies in detecting, preventing, and prosecuting wildlife crime in critical supply and transit hubs within the region.
 


 

Team

Priya Poonia

Priya has over six years of experience in wildlife research, conservation, and management, focussing on counter-wildlife trafficking. At WCS-India, her work spans stakeholder engagement, capacity development, project management, and execution of illegal wildlife trade mitigation strategies. Her work is guided by the overarching principle of translating complex research outcomes into implementable strategies for wildlife conservation and management. Priya is currently overseeing the CWT program’s work in the Northeast region and is interested in exploring ways of incorporating intersectional aspects of IWT, including gender, in the mitigation strategies.

She holds a Master’s degree in Wildlife Sciences and is passionate about wildlife conservation through collaborative efforts. Before joining WCS-India, Priya worked with organizations such as World Wild Fund for Nature-India, GIZ-India, and Teach For Green on diverse conservation issues.


 

Aditi Mishra

Aditi is a postgraduate in Environment and Development from Ambedkar University, Delhi. Her interests include wildlife trafficking, storytelling and understanding human-nature interactions.


 

Arundati Saikia

Arundhati is a postgraduate from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Guwahati, in Ecology, Environment and Sustainable Development. With a diverse educational background in political science, women's studies, ecology, environment and sustainable development, she has experience in documenting traditional ecological knowledge and practices of various tribes and communities in Assam. She takes a profound interest in unravelling the biocultural heritage of diverse indigenous communities, which offers valuable insights into sustainable living practices in harmony with the environment. Before joining WCS-India, she prepared an action-based research project for the Assam State Disaster Management Authority.


 

Ng Bishwanath

 Ng joined WCS-India initially as a volunteer after completing his Bachelors course on botany and after quitting some IT company in Bangalore in 2010. From the time of volunteering till present, he has been associated with the team working on 'monitoring tiger and its prey species'. In between he has also worked with other teams with different projects for a brief period of time. He has worked in the major tiger reserves in Karnataka and several other protected areas and parts of Kerala. Now, for the past three field seasons he has been working in parts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana State.


 

Trishanti Paul

Trishanti is a postgraduate in Ecology, Environment, and Sustainable Development (EESD) from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Guwahati. Her work involves managing the overall illegal wildlife trade database and understanding and informing about the emerging trends related to locations and species. Her interest lies in exploration and storytelling through visuals. Outside work, she enjoys photography and trekking.


 

Uditya Kumar Borkataki

With over four years of experience in wildlife biology, Uditya brings a diverse background working across various habitats and species. Previously, he worked as a Technical Consultant at the Global Tiger Forum, where he led projects focused on the conservation of small cats and elusive mammals in Meghalaya and acted as a Training Officer for the high-altitude tiger project in Sikkim. His notable achievements include leading the award-winning “Future Conservationist Award” project and managing the conservation of the black softshell turtle in Assam.

Uditya holds a master's degree in wildlife science from Gauhati University, Assam with specializations in Mammalogy, Herpetology, and Lepidopterology. Outside of his professional work, he is passionate about trekking, photography, literature, cinema, travel, and culinary exploration.


 

Credits: Photo - Shashank Dalvi (Cover)

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