The Standing Committee of National Board of Wildlife(SC-NBWL) in its 60th meeting held on 05th January has approved the advisory for management of Human-Wildlife Conflict (HWC) in the country.
Advisory has following features:
- The advisory makes important prescriptions for the States/ Union Territories for dealing with Human-Wildlife conflict situations and seeks expedited inter-departmental coordinated and effective actions.
- The advisory envisages empowering gram panchayats in dealing with the problematic wild animals as per the section 11 (1) (b) of Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
- Utilising add-on coverage under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna for crop compensation against crop damage due to HWC.
- Augmenting fodder and water sources within the forest areas.
- Payment of a portion of ex-gratia as interim relief within 24 hours of the incident to the victim/family.
- Prescribing inter-departmental committees at local/state level,
- Adoption of early warning systems,
- Creation of barriers, dedicated circle wise Control Rooms with toll free hotline numbers which could be operated on 24X7 basis,
- Identification of hotspots and formulation and implementation of special plans for improved stall-fed farm animal etc.
Caracal included into the list of critically endangered species
- Some of the other important approvals took place during the meeting are, inclusion of Caracal, a medium size wild cat found in some parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat, into the list of critically endangered species for taking up conservation efforts with financial support under Centrally sponsored Scheme-Development of Wildlife Habitat.
- Now, there are 22 wildlife species under recovery programme for critically endangered species.
Construction of causeway
- Construction of causeway across Jampannavagu to Muthapur of Govindaraopet and between Jampannavagu to Motlagudem in Mulugu District of Telengana with certain mitigation measures.
National Board for Wildlife
- The National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) is constituted by the Central Government under Section 5 A of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (WLPA).
