Finally, State to have wildlife management plans for its 5 sanctuaries

PANJIM: Over 50 years after the first protected area in Goa was notified, the State is set to have Wildlife Management Plans (WMPs) for its five wildlife sanctuaries. While the WMP for Bondla and Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuaries will be ready within a fortnight, the plan for the Bhagwan Mahaveer – Mollem is in an advanced stage of drafting, but it will take another three months to complete the management plans for the Mhadei and Netravali sanctuaries. 

The plans that will reel out a 10-year management policy, highlighting the activities that are allowed and prohibited along with adopting animal-friendly conservation methods, will also recommend to the government to make efforts to rehabilitate the human settlements, located within these sanctuaries. 

The Goa Forest Development Corporation Ltd (GFDCL) is the nodal agency for preparing the plan following directions from the Chief Wildlife Warden.

“This is for the first time that WMPs are being prepared for these protected areas ever since they were notified. A 10-year long management plan is being drafted,” Chief Wildlife Warden Santosh Kumar told Herald.

He said that the management plans for the Dr Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary and Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary were drafted at the time of notifying them as protected areas. While the bird sanctuary plan is still valid, the Cotigao plan has lapsed. 

Kumar said that the WMPs will spell out better ways of management and conservation of the protected areas, along with identifying the activities that can be allowed and prohibited. 

“One of the major focuses will be proposing ways to rehabilitate the human settlement from the sanctuaries,” he said. 

Kumar explained that a large portion of the sanctuary areas have been encroached by the villagers for various activities, mainly cultivation and grazing of animals. 

The WMP for Mhadei is being prepared by Dr Nitin Sawant of Goa University while Sujit Songre of Centre for Environment Education (CEE) has worked on Mollem and for Bondla it is Dr Nand Kumar Sawant and Dr Nandini Vaz of Chowgule College.

The State Legislative Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had in its 2019 report pulled up the State Forest Department for lack of policy management.