Tackling Poaching Of Wild Animals
By P. Marilyn

Bandar Seri Begawan - The Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources is hosting the first Wildlife Trade Regulation training workshop.

The three-day workshop is held as part of Brunei's commitment to tackle organised poaching and trafficking of wild animals and plants in Southeast Asia.

It is organised by the Department ofAgriculture, as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora management authority of Brunei, and TRAFFIC Southeast Asia.

It is also part of a series of training programmes to increase wildlife law enforcement capacity throughout the region under the umbrella of the Asean-Wen (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Wildlife Enforcement Network) initiative.

The workshop was officially opened by Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Hamid bin Haji Mohd Jaafar, MIPR Permanent Secretary.

"This workshop is timely and corresponds to the needs for the implementation and enforcement of Brunei Darussalam's recently enacted Wild Fauna and Flora Order on Dec 31, 2007.

This workshop also supports the objective of the Heart of Borneo, where the cooperation between Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia and Indonesia aims to reinforce the conservation of biodiversity on the island of Borneo," he said.

The workshop brought together enforcement officers from the Royal Brunei Police Force, Royal Brunei Customs and Excise and officers from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry Department, Department of Fisheries, the Museums Department and enforcement officers from other government departments.

It aims to increase the capacity of checkpoint-based law enforcement personnel to monitor wildlife trade and enforce existing regulations and laws regulating it, and simultaneously, bring about closer collaboration between agencies while tackling wildlife crime.

The workshop focuses on basic implementation and enforcement of CITES and the national wildlife legislation (Wild Fauna and Flora Order 2007), the smuggling of wildlife, plus identification of species commonly found in trade in Southeast Asia.

According to Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Hamid, this is very much relevant with the policies of the government of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Negara Brunei Darusslam in the conservation of precious wild flora and fauna, whereby the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources has been given the responsibility to ensure that the policies are executed to protect the flora and fauna of the nation.

"The conservation of biodiversity, I believe, will open up numerous economic opportunities for Brunei in the future.

"For example, studies on the genetic development of a variety of animal species in the forest can generate remedies or solutions for various health problems and environmental pollutions.

The same goes for biodiversity of plants in our forest that can be a source of discovery for various new remedies and food supplements that has anti-bacterial, anti-cancer and anti-viral traits including remedies for dengue and maybe even HIV.

"In addition to that, the different types of microbes (bacteria or fungi) that we know more than 90 per cent before cultivated, has a high potential market price that can be used as source of enzyme and amino acids for bio active resources with many functions.

"Biodiversity is not only limited to resources in the forest but resources from the sea also has a wide economic potential. In line with Brunei Darussalam's desire in establishing our nation as a source of export for halal product, resources from the sea can generate alternative cooking oil or as a source of halal gelatine," he said.

Azrina Abdullah, Regional Director of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, said, "Without the firm commitment from governments in the region, there is little doubt that excessive wildlife trade will lead to the demise and potentially the extinction of many of our region's unique species of animals and plants."

She said, prior to this, this workshop has been held in all Asean countries involving more than 1,000 participants in a span of two years and this has given law enforcement officers the confidence in executing their daily tasks.

Southeast Asia is extremely rich in biodiversity and illegal and unsustainable harvest and trade of wildlife is a major threat to the conservation of nature throughout the region.

Many species are sourced to supply demands around the globe for pets, meat, medicines, luxury goods and zoos.

Brunei Darussalam became a party of CITES in 1990 as the nation is home to many commercially important species such as the Water Monitor Lizard Varanus Salvator, Reticulated Python Python Reticulatus and the Hill Mynah Gracula Religiosa. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

Related News: Region Moots Tough Measures Against Poachers

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