Two sanctuaries get wildlife board’s nod for expansion

JAIPUR: The State Board for Wildlife (SBWL) on Thursday gave its nod for expansion of two sanctuary areas in the state by adjoining reserve forest blocks.

The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by the environment and forest minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar. Sitamata Sanctuary in Pratapgarh district and Jaisamand Sanctuary Udaipur are the two sanctuaries slated for expansion.

According to the decision of the board, approximately 210.87 square kilometre adjoining area in Sitamata Sanctuary and 32 square kilometre area in Jaisamand Sanctuary will be added to the existing area.

After the adjoining forest reserve area is included, the total area of Sitamata Sanctuary would be increase to 633.75 square kilometre. Similarly, area of Jaisamand Sanctuary would be increase to 192 square km from 160 square km.

A senior forest official at Udaipur said, “The move will not only increase the protected area, but also lead to better wildlife management. Sitamata is one of the richest sanctuaries having nearly 50 species of mammals, more than 325 species of birds.

The sanctuary also has large Brown Flying Squirrel, which are biggest attraction as large number of tourists come here from across the country. There are over 100 squirrels as the tribal Bhil community calls them in local dialect,” he added.

The move was welcomed by the experts as Rajasthan contributes only 2.8 % protected areas which is less than the national average. At present protected areas, including national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, and conservation and community reserves, cover 4.9% or 162,072 sq. km of India’s geographical area.