Animal welfare group calls for 'environmental police'

Dubai: An international animal welfare group has called for 'environmental police' who can monitor polluters and illegal animal trading or habitat destruction.

Hiring official police officers to monitor detrimental acts to the environmental has already been adopted in Jordan and is being promoted as something the UAE might look into by the Bastakia-based International Foundation for Animal Welfare.

Violations related to protected reserves, water and sanitation, marine and wildlife including hunting, waste, pollution, agricultural production and pesticides are all closely watched by the Environmental Police in Jordan.

The existing trade in illegal animal items in the UAE such as ivory, shahtoosh shawls or caviar has pushed customs officials to receive special training in identifying prohibited animal products by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

According to Hedia Baccar, Middle East advisor at IFAW, items are confiscated at entry points to the UAE every week. "The ministry thinks that people are not aware of the laws surrounding these products. In some cases it's true but obviously some people are knowingly smuggling items into the UAE," she said.

Crocodiles and snake skins, caviar, ivory and shahtoosh shawls remain in the top five products illegally imported into the country.

"We have been working with customs in Hatta, Sharjah and will be going to Ras al Khaimah to do it there too. We provide help to better manage and protect endangered fauna and flora by giving custom's officials tools to apply rules of protection and to decrease illegal trade," said Baccar.

"We would like to generate an environmental police with the Ministry of Environment and Water. The country urgently needs this department. If they adopt the idea it would be a very big and important step," she added.

"In countries like Libya or Jordan we have worked with the municipal police to monitor environmental crimes," she said.