A project entitled “Strengthening Regional Cooperation for Wildlife Protection in Asia” with the following components has been proposed for credit of US$ 30 Million from World Bank under Third Phase of adaptable Program Lending:

(i)       Capacity building for wildlife conservation and cooperation for addressing the illegal trans-boundary wildlife trade (US$20.52 million): This component aims to bring about regional harmonization and collaboration in cross-border wildlife conservation and management , combating wildlife crime through strengthened legislative and regulatory frameworks, well-equipped specialized agencies and systems, as well as relevant training and awareness programs for staff across the range of agencies that contribute to the enforcement of wildlife laws and regulations namely the Wildlife Division in the Ministry of Environment and Forests and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau.

(ii)      Promoting Wildlife Conservation in Asia (US$2.95 million): The objective of this component is to generate and share knowledge as well as technical expertise by promoting research and innovative approaches on emerging challenges in wildlife conservation.

(iii)     Project coordination and communication (US$5.04 million): Under this component expenditure of US$ 0.76 million is estimated for project management and monitoring. The remaining amount is to be spent on project communications, wherein a multi-pronged approach will be adopted to communications in order to meet regional and local challenges.

          The credit agreement has not been signed with the World Bank and negotiations have not been held so far.

          The yearly disbursement of the World Bank assistant of US$30 million is expected as follows:

The above information was given by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment and Forests, Shrimati Jayanthi Natarajan to the Parliament. 

MC/sk