Govt working sincerely to curb illegal wildlife trade: Minister

Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Shahab Uddin today said that the government is working sincerely to curb the illegal trade of wildlife.

Strategies are being assessed to identify and punish those who control the illegal wildlife trade, he said while speaking as chief guest at the inaugural ceremony of a meeting titled "Consultation Meeting on Strengthening Law Enforcement in combating Illegal Wildlife Trade".

"With the help of all, we must win the fight against illegal wildlife trade," he added.

The meeting was organised jointly by Bangladesh Forest Department and Wildlife Conservation Society at Pan Pacific Sonargaon hotel in Dhaka.

The minister said that a strategic plan would be formulated among the concerned sectors to jointly curb the illegal wildlife trade. Initiatives will be taken to effectively implement laws, programmes and projects to curb such crimes. 

He called upon the concerned agencies to take practical steps to eradicate the illegal wildlife trade.  He said there is a need to intensify public awareness activities on the negative consequences of wildlife trade. 

"Strict punishment will be ensured by bringing the wildlife criminals to justice. We must all come forward to protect forests and wildlife in our own interest," the minister said.

Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Md Mostafa Kamal chaired the meeting while 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 bureaus, and from various ministries and law enforcement agencies discussed what needs to be done to strengthen law enforcement to curb the illegal trade of wildlife.