GUWAHATI, Jan 18: Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary in Ri Bhoi district of Meghalaya has been found to be the best protected area in the North East, 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, 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 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.
James hails recognition
Forest and Environment Minister, James Sangma has hailed the rating of Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary as the best in the North East region.
Stating that the evaluation was carried out by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Sangma added that the sanctuary has long been known for housing alluring wildlife species.
“I would like to urge every stakeholder to continue to stay committed so that we can turn Nongkhyllem into a little paradise where man and nature can live in harmony,” he added.