On November the 24th to 25th, 2014, China Wildlife Conservation Society in collaboration with the Guangzhou CITES Management Authority (MA), provided a two-day training workshop for Huangpu Customs Agency to support front-line enforcement efforts.
Over 100 frontline law enforcement officers from 16 different custom’s offices attended the workshop. This training was instigated at the request of Huangpu customs following discussions with the agency regarding how WCS could most effectively support their efforts to crack down on the illegal trade of wildlife at the Chinese border. The training content was developed following a number of consultations with Huangpu regarding their priority areas for training support. Based on this WCS facilitated the following interactive sessions on:
1. The international regulations on wildlife trade relevant to Chinese customs sites;
2. The means to identify illegally imported timber;
3. The legal status of and means to identify different wildlife species and products;
4. The use of the WCS-developed tool Wildlife Guardian in front line enforcement efforts.
WCS invited experts from the local and national CITES MA offices to deliver content regarding species identification and the legal status of CITES listed species in China. The discussions held prior to the training with Huangpu indicated a high demand for support in timber species identification; to support this WCS invited an expert from the Chinese Academy of Forestry to deliver specialist training to the participants.
Huangpu Customs was a registration office of Cantonese Customs in Qing Dynasty (1685 A.D.) Today it is one of the seven regional customs in Guangdong Province, which covers a total territorial area of approximately 4,440 square kilometers. It is one of the most important maritime ports for foreign trade in South China.
WCS China staff conducted law enforcement training with Huangpu Customs. Photo: ©WCS China He Qijing
Yin Yafang, scholar from Chinese Academy of Forestry is giving lecture on timber. Photo: ©WCS China He Qijing
Trainees are practising on identification of timber. Photo: ©WCS China He Qijing
Trainees are learning to use Wildlife Guardian app, which developed by WCS in identifying species. Photo: ©WCS China He Qijing