KATHMANDU: Forest secretaries of Nepal and India are due to meet in India this month to discuss trans-boundary conservation issues and formalise mechanism for the secretary level talks on yearly basis. The meeting will be first in eight years. The last meeting was held in Kathmandu in 2002. The Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests has written to Nepal seeking advise on the dates for the upcoming secretary level meeting, said Shivaraj Bhatta, Spokesperson, Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC). There was a mutual understanding between the two countries to hold the high-level meeting every year and field-level meetings every three months to control poaching and illegal trading of wildlife and plants, and park people conflict. The first meeting was held in 1997 and it continued for four years till 2002 regularly. The meeting assumes significance in the wake of increased reports that the country has become a key transit route for illegal trade of wildlife and plants. Most of the national parks and wildlife reserves in the Tarai are linked with Indian national parks and wildlife reserves. Shukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve in Kanchanpur shares border with Dudhwa National Park of India, Bardia National Park in Bardia links Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary and Chitwan National Park and Parsa Wildlife Reserve with Valmikhi national park and wildlife reserve in India. “Field-level meetings were held regularly. So, the secretary level meeting will have key issues to discuss for the trans-boundary conservation efforts,” added Bhatta. Earlier in March, Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation (MoFSC) Deepak Bohora had a meeting with Indian Minister for Forests and Environment Jairam Ramesh to seek coordination and cooperation on trans-boundary biodiversity conservation, illegal wildlife trade and protected area management.