Post News Network
Bhubaneswar: The state government Friday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with New Delhi-based Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) to prepare a comprehensive wildlife management plan for the state.
The MoU was signed between the principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife), SS Srivastava, and the executive director of WTI, Vivek Menon, in presence of state forest and environment minister Bikram Keshari Arukh.
“WTI will prepare a comprehensive wildlife management plan for the protection and development of both the rich wildlife and endangered species inhabiting the forests and aquatic ecosystem of the state,” said Arukh to journalists after the signing of the MoU.
Each of the protected areas in the state currently have a wildlife management plan. “Areas beyond these protected sites do not have such plans to provide an effective protection mechanism to the wild animals. This gap will be bridged after preparation of a comprehensive wildlife management plan by WTI,” said Srivastava.
WTI would conduct a survey and prepare the plan within the next 15 months with a total cost of `3.65 crore, said the PCCF (wildlife). The 15-month duration includes 12 months of fieldwork and three months for preparation of the management plan.
The agency will also prepare 50 sub-management wildlife plans for each of the 50 forest and wildlife divisions across the state. These plans would also comprise short-term and long-term activities over a period of 10 years, said sources.
The comprehensive plan will fulfill the basic requirements of wildlife management, including identification of biological resources and their connectivity across the landscape, reduction of man-animal conflicts, promotion of conservation of wildlife at the grassroots level and development of required infrastructure, added the sources.
The state has 19 sanctuaries and 2 national parks, which together account for 10.37 per cent of the total forest area and 5.36 per cent of the total geographical area of the state.