Tusker : Vivek Menon, at the launch of his report on the Asian elephant at the CITIES convention in Chile 2002

PELT (Policy, Enforcement, Law & Training ) looks at combining law, policy, trade control and capacity building to tackle wildlife crime.

In India, it focuses on policy makers and implementers, who have a critical role in wildlife conservation, apart from interacting with primary levels of judiciary, and the autonomous district and tribal councils in the north eastern states, who work with their own customary laws. Internationally, it participates in fora like the UN's Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora & Fauna (CITES), Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), International Whaling Commission (IWC) and the Global Tiger Forum (GTF).

The programme actively files public interest cases for protecting wildlife and its habitat against threats like encroachments, mining, trade of banned wildlife articles among others.

Working closely with the government it actively lobbies at national and international levels to encourage formulation and implementation of policies favouring wildlife conservation. It actively assists the prosecution of wildlife offenders.

Enforcement : Identifying illegal products, tracing routes, nailing crooks

It researches trade in wild species, develops strategies to regulate or control such trade, and assists enforcement agencies to curb wildlife crime. It has a network of investigators who work towards wildlife conservation by assisting the enforcement agencies working to combat wildlife crime. The division has assisted in several raids and over 150 seizures of wildlife articles ranging from tiger bones and skins, ivory, shahtoosh shawls and wool, bear bile, tiger and mongoose hair and brushes.

PELT maintains a national level database on elephant mortality and ivory seizures which forms the baseline for policy documents against conditional sale of ivory in some African nations.

Guardians of the Wild

On alert : Protection at any cost

Recognising that the safety of Indian wildlife is in the hands of the forest staff in the field, WTI started the Guardians of the Wild to look after those who look after wildlife. Known in Indian languages as the Van Rakshak programme, it comprises of a group of skilled trainers who work closely with the forest department's frontline field staff, honing their skills, boosting their morale, and equipping them to perform their duties better.

Covering a wide range of subjects that include wildlife and criminal law, enforcement methods, unarmed combat, firearms handling, the trainers supplement the skills already imparted to them by the government to create a strong, well-equipped and motivated force of frontline field staff. The unit has trained and equipped more than 7500 field staff in 100 protected areas of India.

As protecting India's natural heritage is fast taking the shape of an armed conflict with well-equipped poachers and timber smugglers, PELT runs India's only NGO Accident Insurance scheme, which brings all the frontline field wildlife staff in the country under an insurance umbrella that covers them for Rs 100,000 (app US$ 2000) on death or permanent disability. Today 22 states have joined this scheme and 39 families have availed of the insurance.

Back to the basics : Law and enforcement training for frontline wildlife staff

In order to keep track of the field staff, the
programme has developed a database, which tracks the careers of staff from Range Forest officers and below, including temporary staff, in the sanctuaries and national parks. Called PASS (Protected Area Staff Status), it covers 14 information parameters, including family and dependents. With over 17,500 staff on its database, it is the only one of its kind in India and serves as a useful tool for the government and policy makers.

To recognise and reward good effort, the unit also gives awards and financially supports those in need. It aims to create a network of field staff around the country to facilitate exchange of experience and information. The Van Rakshak award is given to an outstanding field worker every year.