Maharashtra gets 18 new conservation reserves
These conservation reserves cover ecologically rich habitats in Pune, Thane, Raigad, Nandurbar, Nashik, Palghar, Sangli and Chandrapur districts
Mumbai: In a major boost for wildlife and environment conservation in the state, the Maharashtra State Board for Wildlife (MSBWL) has approved 18 new conservation reserves and granted in-principle approvals for seven more. This will take the total number of these areas in the state to 52 from the previous 27. Put together, these conservation reserves will have a total area of 13,000 sq km.
The board met under chief minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday.
These conservation reserves cover ecologically rich habitats in Pune, Thane, Raigad, Nandurbar, Nashik, Palghar, Sangli and Chandrapur districts. The area abutting national parks or wildlife sanctuaries or that connecting two protected areas is notified as a conservation reserve for the conservation of the habitats of animals and the flora.
As per the provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the consent of the wildlife board is a must before notifying any fresh PAs in the state.
The MSBWL also granted in-principle approval for seven conservation reserves, namely, Saptashrungi gad in Nashik, Moroshicha Bhairavgad in Thane, Dhareshwar, Trikuteshwar, Kannad and Pedkagad in Aurangabad, Kinvat in Nanded. The final consent will be given in the next meeting of the board.
A senior official from the state forest department said they were focusing on notifying areas as conservation reserves instead of wildlife sanctuaries as national parks to overcome opposition by local stakeholders due to an eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) coming into effect. The conservation reserves do not impose such restrictions on their fringes.
“This is a middle path as people are against the ESZ. At the same time, wildlife management can be undertaken through a participatory approach by rolling out livelihood development schemes for locals,” he added.
Forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar asked for the surcharge on the fees for private projects coming up in eco-sensitive zones, wildlife sanctuaries and tiger corridors to be hiked to 4% from the present 2% for the mitigation of their impact. Of this 4%, a total of 1% will be used for the conservation of biodiversity in the state.
Mungantiwar also requested the chief minister for the ‘negative treasury’ system to be applied in cases of compensation to be paid during the man-animal conflict. This will ensure that budgetary constraints and lack of funding will not hold up the payment of compensation.
The new conservation reserves
Velhe- Mulshi (87.41 sq km), Lonavala (121.20 sq km) in Pune and Raigad districts, Naneghat (98.78 sq km) and Rajmachi (83.15 sq km) in Pune and Thane districts, Bhorgirigad in Pune (37.64 sq km), Dindori in Nashik (62.10 sq km), Surgana (86.28 sq km), Taharabad (122.45 sq km), Kareghat (97.45 sq km), Chinchpada (93.91 sq km) in Nandurbar, Ghera Manikgad (53.25 sq km) and Alibag (60.03 sq km) in Raigad, Gumtara in Thane (125.50 sq km), Jawhar (118.28 sq km), Dhamani (49.15 sq km), Asherigad (80.95 sq km) in Palghar, Atpadi (9.48 sq km) in Sangli and Ekara in Chandrapur (102.99 sq km).