Alison Stuart: Project Update: March 2008

One of the endangered wildlife bird species_Toco Toucan_ showed to trained law enforcement officers.

I am pleased to report that from 4th to 19th February 2008, the project team trained a total of 80 law enforcement officers. There were 32 female officers and 48 male officers that were trained in local and international laws which protect endangered wildlife species from illegal trade. The training programme was undertaken in all the three (North, centre and south) regions of the country.

The officers were taught the National Parks and Wildlife Act, the Forestry Act, Fisheries Act, Environmental Management Act, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and other Treaties which protect endangered wildlife species from trade. Further, they were also taught a list of Malawi’s endangered wildlife species which is under CITES (Fig.2). The officers were informed that it is their duty to arrest and prosecute any person found in possession or to trade any endangered wildlife species. I am thus, pleased to report that this training programme has yield tangible results as on 3rd March 2008, the Immigration Officers at Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe arrested two Malawians who were in possession of a carton of full of ivory which they wanted to smuggle it to Germany for sale.