Meghalaya Wildlife Board advocates creation of elephant corridors in State

SHILLONG: The State Board for Wildlife, which met on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, has called for the need to restore and recreate wildlife corridors, particularly elephant corridors that existed in the State to facilitate free movement of wildlife from one place to another.
Several agenda, including proposal to declare Emangre Reserve Forest in South Garo Hills as Wildlife Sanctuary under Sec 26 of the Wildlife Act, wildlife clearance for improvement of Jowai-Ratacherra road which falls under eco-sensitive zone, payment of ex-gratia for victims of wildlife, establishment of sanctuaries for indigenous and endemic species of fish, establishment of good intelligence network for protection of wildlife, etc., were brought before the Board for its consideration.
On the issue of acquisition of land for wildlife sanctuary, the chief minister said the approach should be to make it attractive to the people by incentivizing with remunerative returns, adding that the objective of wildlife conservation should be linked to sustainable livelihood for the people. The approach should be adopted wherever there are potentialities for wildlife; the community should be given the responsibility with proper support, he said.
Expressing concern over the fact that elephants were now being forced to wander within an area with their habitats and corridors having been taken over by human habitation and livelihood activities, the chief minister stressed the need to restore and recreate wildlife corridors and urged upon the Forest department to work out a plan with national and international wildlife agencies for the same.
He also called for having quick response teams for safety of wildlife and to respond in emergencies when animals are found injured, to which the Forest & Environment Minister Prestone Tynsong suggested that such teams and facilities can be established in every Wildlife division in the State.
For protection of endangered plants, the chief minister suggested that one way to protect such plants and ensure their multiplication was to promote their plantation in private or community lands which would also bring them remunerative returns.
Concerned over the slow depletion of valuable medicinal herbs in Balpakram National Park, he also suggested that visitors should not be allowed to go to the park in their own vehicles and called for the need to have transit camps with sufficient vehicles to facilitate visitors to the park. The chief minister also assured the departments concerned that all proposals given in the meeting would be taken up for consideration, adding that those areas which required urgent attention would be taken up immediately.
Community specific schemes for reduction of man-animal conflict and wildlife conservation, cave species like bats that have come under threat due to mining, area specific documentation of butterflies and other wildlife species, etc., were also discussed during the meeting.
It may be mentioned that the last meeting of the Board was held in 2011 and the chief minister said that the Board should meet once every year. As such the Board decided to have its next meeting early part of next year.