Attached
The Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) is the main government institution
responsible for protection and conservation of biodiversity, and prevention of commercial and
other misuse of fauna, flora and their habitats in Sri Lanka. Officers of DWC are empowered
to perform their duties under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance, No.2 of 1937 (FFPO)
as amended. Wildlife crime investigation and taking legal actions against offenders are the
main duties of field level wildlife officers with regard to protection and conservation of
biodiversity in the country. However, some loopholes can be identified in the existing system
that affect the effective implementation of legal actions at the ground level. The main objective
of this study is to identify and critically analyze such existing gaps, and propose remedies.
This case-study was conducted in DWC Polonnaruwa Assistant Directors’ region, and 50
wildlife crime cases filed before Polonnaruwa and Hingurakgoda magistrate courts by the
Minneriya National Park office and Polonnaruwa wildlife rangers’ office were analyzed.
Concurrently, 20 wildlife officers who prosecute cases and 10 senior defense counselors
(Lawyers) were randomly selected, information pertaining to implementation of legal actions
were collected by personal interviews and structured questionnaires. Qualitative data analysis
was done through framework analyzing method.The 50 cases were filed with regard to 15
different types of offences under the FFPO, and the most common offence was entering and
being in wildlife protected areas without prior permission (43%). In 23 cases, the offenders
pleaded guilty. The DWC succeeded in 08 cases after trial and unsuccessful in 16 cases. Three
cases have not been decided. The Study found out that absence of a separate officer responsible
for raids at field offices, weaknesses of initial investigations, not keeping accurate and complete
records of crime incidences, errors in bail bonds, ‘B’ reports, and charge sheets, absence of
relevant officials before the courts, evidence handling errors, and conflicting evidences as the
major reasons for failures in wildlife crime investigations and bringing offenders before the
courts.
Based on the respondent views, the case study found that giving sound hands-on training on
court practices, employing a dedicated legal officer at DWC, provision of uniforms and side
weapons, accelerating reward process, and appreciation of commitments would positively
affected to increase the success rate of wildlife crime suppression.
