Kathmandu, May 25: A discussion programme on ” The CITES meeting and Nepal’s participation” was organised here with the objective of informing about various topics relating to Nepal discussed at the eleventh meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) held recently in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
Representatives from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, the Department of Law, the Department of Forests, the District Forest Office and the Forensics Science Laboratory including police and journalists took part in the discussion programme organised under the aegis of Nepal Forum of environmental Journalists (NEFEJ) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)-Nepal.
At the programme, the participants stressed that the existing laws and regulations on conservation and protection of wild flora and fauna should be activated in coordination with all the concerned departments and that necessary steps should be taken to formulate and reform legislation that are insufficient.
Chairman of the House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee Lekh Nath Acharya said that formulation of appropriate regulations and creating public awareness played important role in wildlife protection.
He said the committee would be actively engaged in formulating the necessary legislation if the need arises.
Director-general of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Mr Madhu Sudan Bista who returned after taking part in the 11th cites conference, said that at the meeting Nepal proposed the protection of wild animals such as the musk deer and pangolin and wild plants like “Laghupatra”, the “Loth Salla” and “Sarpagandha”.
Another participant of the conference, Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Shyam Sundar Bajimaya said that the conference was attended by some 2,500 persons from 145 countries. He said Nepal had the opportunity to learn a great deal from the conference.
Conservation programme director of the WWF, Nepal Mr. Ukesh Raj Bhuju pointed out the need for coordination between the police, people and the 18 different units in Nepal engaged in wildlife protection.
NEFEJ member and senior journalist Bhairab Risal, senior superintendent of police Rohit Thapa and journalists Pushkar Mathema, Mohan Mainali, Rajendra Suwal and Rabi Sharma, Bishwanath Upreti, Anil Chitrakar and others also gave suggestions at the programme presided over by NEFEJ president Om Khadka. There are more than 13,000 species of wildlife including birds and reptiles and more than 250,000 varieties of wild plants in the world. However, these Wild Flora and Fauna are under the threat due to the illegal trade in wildlife parts worth billions of rupees every year.