GUWAHATI: Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary in Ri Bhoi district of Meghalaya has been found to be the best protected area in the Northeast, a report on the management effectiveness evaluation (MEE) of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, stated.
The MEE report, released by Union minister for environment, forest and climate change, Prakash Javadekar recently, observed that Meghalaya has a record of fairly good management practices.
In 2018-19, the ministry of environment, forest and climate change, with the technical assistance from the Wildlife Institute of India, conducted the MEE of 146 national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.
Till 2018, MEE of 324 national parks and wildlife sanctuaries was carried out.
“The fact that the management plan in respect of Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary has been in place from 2001 through 2022 shows that irrespective who’s posted, there is continuity,” it said.
“There are also prospects of increasing landscape continuity as efforts are on to increase protected areas from the vicinity, which are community forests. The community is also supportive of conservation,” the MEE report added.
In Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary, biotic interference in the park has been significantly reduced, zonation has been done in terms of core and buffer zones and it has a duly notified eco-sensitive zone, the report added.
Management effectiveness evaluation of protected areas has emerged as a key tool for protected area managers and is increasingly being used by governments and international bodies to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the protected area management systems.
The MEE report however underlined the need for the forest authorities to collaborate with local/regional research institutes to initiate research in key faunal species, especially in endangered species.
“Standardising frequency and periodicity of wildlife estimation will go a long way in looking at stability/viability of wildlife population,” it said.