The Assam government has officially recognised a wildlife laboratory, Aaranyak’s Wildlife Genetics Laboratory (WGL), to provide forensic analysis for wildlife crime investigations.

The first-of-its-kind recognition, under Section 329(4) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, will allow the WGL and its director, Udayan Borthakur, to assist law-enforcement agencies in gathering DNA-based forensic evidence to tackle wildlife offences.

Founded in 1989, the Guwahati-based Aaranyak is a leading non-profit biodiversity conservation organisation in the Northeast. Its WGL, set up in 2008, is the region’s only conservation genetics and wildlife DNA forensics facility.

“This move marks the first recognition of a laboratory and an expert in the wildlife sector under the BNSS for the purpose of assisting wildlife crime investigations and control through forensic evidence gathering using DNA sampling methods,” the Aaranyak said in a statement. The move, it added, would enable the lab and its biologists to work directly with enforcement agencies, boosting conviction rates.

Although Guwahati’s State Forensic Laboratory conducts general forensic analysis, wildlife DNA forensics cases have so far been sent to facilities in Dehradun, Hyderabad, or Aaranyak’s WGL. “Samples need not be sent outside Assam now,” an Aaranyak official said. The lab was recognised on August 4.

Borthakur said: “We regard the government’s notification as a significant acknowledgement of our nearly two decades of work in this field. We also regard this notification as a significant responsibility that falls on our shoulders, and we are grateful to the government of Assam for entrusting us with this critical responsibility.”

Over the past decade, the lab has supported 135 wildlife crime investigations with genetic analysis and on-ground DNA sampling.