Protecting wildlife ‘Our duty is not to just fine poachers, but to end illegal hunting’ (Lahore city)
Khalid Ayaz gives district officers 15 days to compile data of hunting licence holders.
LAHORE:
Wildlife and Parks Director General Khalid Ayaz Khan has given district officers 15 days to collect details of people who have hunting licences and send them to the head office.
Khan was presiding over a meeting of district wildlife officers in the province. He said their foremost duty was to prevent poaching of wild animals in the province. “We must identify problem zones and focus our energies on eradicating poaching there,” he said. The Wildlife DG also told them to set themselves targets on how they plan to crackdown on illegal hunting in their respective areas.
Khan said all pending cases of poaching and violations of the Wildlife Act should be presented for hearing on priority basis. He said that courts must be requested to pass verdicts at the earliest.
The Wildlife DG said a coordinated strategy was required to fill the shortage of field staff in district offices. The approval process in this regard would be implemented soon, he said.
“Districts officers are the deputed watchers of the department.
You must take along watchers of community-based organisations in your areas so that we can strengthen monitoring mechanisms and ensure protection of wildlife.”
He urged district officers not to focus on collecting fines from poachers, “our duty is to end illegal hunting”. Khan said wildlife inspectors at the tehsil level should avoid cozying up to local influential people and should keep their work free of bias. He said that a circular was going to be sent to senior officers requesting cooperation regarding the establishment of Wildlife and Parks offices at the tehsil level throughout the province. He said officers of the department must work efficiently to improve the image of the department. The Wildlife director general told the district officers to gather details of people who had hunting licences so they could create a database of such people. He gave them 15 days to compile the details and said further instructions would be issued accordingly.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 6th, 2016.
Wildlife and Parks Director General Khalid Ayaz Khan has given district officers 15 days to collect details of people who have hunting licences and send them to the head office.
Khan was presiding over a meeting of district wildlife officers in the province. He said their foremost duty was to prevent poaching of wild animals in the province. “We must identify problem zones and focus our energies on eradicating poaching there,” he said. The Wildlife DG also told them to set themselves targets on how they plan to crackdown on illegal hunting in their respective areas.
Khan said all pending cases of poaching and violations of the Wildlife Act should be presented for hearing on priority basis. He said that courts must be requested to pass verdicts at the earliest.
The Wildlife DG said a coordinated strategy was required to fill the shortage of field staff in district offices. The approval process in this regard would be implemented soon, he said.
“Districts officers are the deputed watchers of the department.
You must take along watchers of community-based organisations in your areas so that we can strengthen monitoring mechanisms and ensure protection of wildlife.”
He urged district officers not to focus on collecting fines from poachers, “our duty is to end illegal hunting”. Khan said wildlife inspectors at the tehsil level should avoid cozying up to local influential people and should keep their work free of bias. He said that a circular was going to be sent to senior officers requesting cooperation regarding the establishment of Wildlife and Parks offices at the tehsil level throughout the province. He said officers of the department must work efficiently to improve the image of the department. The Wildlife director general told the district officers to gather details of people who had hunting licences so they could create a database of such people. He gave them 15 days to compile the details and said further instructions would be issued accordingly.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 6th, 2016.