Evidence from a Prisoner’s Tale of a Nepalese Prime Minister: Enforcement of the Wildlife Parts Law as illegal as Trade
I plan to continue working in conservation science and social justice, whether through courtroom battles or documentation of threatened species. Although conservation science is my main focus, I recognize the importance of translating theoretical discussions into the laws and policies that dictate how society operates. I hope that my case sets an example that there are times when researchers can transcend academic boundaries.
The issue has been politicized because of powerful people, but a precedent has been set by the ruling. The decision also supports enforcement officers, enabling them to pursue powerful figures if needed. Thousands of illegal wildlife parts are now underenforcement because of the court order.
Visiting prisons and listening to the life stories of the people there helped me to connect with them and understand their struggles. In August 2016, I saw a preview of a television interview in which a former prime minister of Nepal displayed a large tiger pelt at his residence. The disparity struck me — the poorer people in prison had been convicted for their roles in the illegal wildlife trade, but the powerful could showcase parts of endangered animals on national television with no consequences.
My case went through 14 deferrals over five years. Last May, the Supreme Court finally heard my case. I claimed in my petition that the government did not keep track of people who owned wildlife part and that the government was violating the law. The court acknowledged that my claim was valid and requested written answers from the government.
I have a lot of evidence since I followed up for nearly two years. I found an environmental lawyer, Padam Bahadur Shrestha, who helped me file the petition with the supreme court of Nepal.
I questioned enforcement agencies on social media. According to Nepal’s law possession of wildlife parts without a licence is as illegal as trading protected animals. The law required any person possessing any protected wildlife parts to register them with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation. I was surprised that not a single person did it in the year.
Jacob was a researcher at Lancaster University in the UK and I met him at a conference in South Africa. I was told to expand my research as he was impressed that I was visiting prisons. I had in-depth interviews with 116 inmates when I was in seven prisons.
We need to understand the value of nature if we want to protect it—and that should include paying ecosystems for keeping us alive, argues Ian Redmond, head of conservation for not-for-profit streaming platform Ecoflix and cofounder of Rebalance Earth, a company that aims to build a sustainable, resilient, and equitable economy. The trees and animals above the ground are considered to have to go in order for the minerals under the ground to be worth more.
“The irony is that people who live in the developing world, where many of these documentaries are made, don’t get to see them because their national TV stations can’t afford to buy them,” he explains. People should care about the wildlife in the countries where they live.
And we should pay animals like elephants for their essential arboreal gardening, he argues. The birds, as well as the elephants and apes, are seed-dispersal agents. “They swallow seeds and deposit them in their droppings miles away.”
This has a huge benefit because trees do so much more than just store carbon. The amount of wood in the forest where elephants are still living is 14 percent more than in the forest where elephants have died out. That basin sets up weather systems that ultimately produce rain in Britain and Europe.
The value of an elephant in terms of its value to the world is about 1.7 million dollars per animal. He pointed out that if the elephant were being paid for the services it provides, it would cost roughly $30,000 per year or $80 a day. “But, of course, no one’s paying that.”