Conservation organisation Aaranyak played a key role at the Indian Wildlife Ecology Conference (IWEC) 2026, where it joined hands with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) to promote community-driven and technology-based strategies to combat illegal wildlife hunting and trade.
The conference, held at Ashoka University in Sonipat, Haryana, on July 10 and 11, brought together researchers, conservationists, law enforcement agencies, policymakers and community representatives from across the country to discuss collaborative approaches to wildlife protection.
Aaranyak’s Legal and Advocacy Division (LAD), in collaboration with WTI, organised a Special Interest Group (SIG) titled “Establishing a Community of Practice to Address Illegal Wildlife Hunting and Trade through Integrated Community Surveillance and Evidence-Based Protection.” The session focused on strengthening cooperation among stakeholders and promoting community participation in tackling wildlife crimes.
The programme was inaugurated by Aaranyak’s Deputy Director of LAD, Dr. Jimmy Borah, and WTI Chief Executive Officer Jose Louies. Both speakers stressed the need to integrate scientific research, community engagement, governance and evidence-based interventions to strengthen efforts against illegal wildlife trade.
During the conference, Aaranyak officials presented several studies highlighting innovative approaches to wildlife crime prevention. Deputy Manager Binita Baruwati demonstrated how open-source digital information can be used to collect and analyse wildlife crime data to support investigations and conservation planning.
Senior Project Officer Ivy Farheen Hussain presented findings from a survey on the role of pet shops in Guwahati in the trade of exotic and protected wildlife species. She also highlighted successful community-led surveillance initiatives in Arunachal Pradesh through Community Surveillance and Monitoring Teams (CSMT), which have strengthened wildlife protection efforts.
Project Officer Mizing Boro and Assistant Project Officer Bijeet Baro showcased the use of the Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) for data-driven wildlife crime prevention, explaining how the technology helps improve patrol planning, monitor threats and strengthen conservation management.
The two-day discussions also featured presentations by experts from WTI and other organisations on issues such as pangolin conservation, trafficking of threatened plant species, cyber-enabled wildlife crime and species-specific trafficking trends.
The conference concluded with a collective commitment to establish a cross-sectoral Community of Practice to facilitate knowledge sharing, collaborative research, policy discussions and coordinated action against illegal wildlife hunting and trade. Aaranyak said its participation in IWEC 2026 was supported by the Resilience Fund of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) and the Weeden Foundation.
