WWF ‘red tape’ spells end for wildlife seizure project

The threat of withdrawing its name and funding had failed to free it from WWF control in the last few months. Traffic India was allowed to die slowly —suffocated by the red-tapism which has become part of WWF. From being an NGO which actively worked with the Ministry of Environment, its agenda was hijacked by bureaucrats who took over WWF. The result was a dramatic drop in performance level.

Last year, controversy surrounded it when its director Manoj Mishra was unceremoniously removed by WWF general secretary Meeta Vyas. Last month after an acrimonious Board meeting, she too tendered her resignation. She is still the acting head as they are yet find someone to head the organisation.

The organisation was started in 1991 by Ashok Kumar and Vivek Menon who then called it Wildlife Traffic Monitoring Unit. They resigned when the first serving IAS officer Samar Singh took over as director general WWF. According to them, that was the beginning of the end as red-tapism started seeping into the organisation.

‘‘It was supposed to be an NGO and not a government organisation which it became,’’ said an employee on conditions of anonymity. ‘‘It is a sad moment because this organisation was different when it first started. It not just carried out studies in wildlife trade like it’s international counterpart but also followed up with actual seizures and legal action,’’ said Ashok Kumar.

It first shot into limelight when it played an active role in August 1993 in a seizure of 400 kgs of tiger bone in and around Delhi.