PUNE: The state forest department has started the process to turn the Nagzira wildlife sanctuary in Bhandara district and the Navegaon national park in Gondia district into tiger reserves. A proposal for the Nagzira tiger reserve has already been sent to the principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF), Wildlife, for approval.
At present, Maharashtra has four tiger reserves - Melghat, Tadoba-Andhari, Pench and Sahyadri.
A K Saxena, chief conservator of forest, Nagpur (Wildlife), told TOI on Sunday that the forest department has prepared a proposal to make the Nagzira wildlife sanctuary a tiger reserve and sent it to the PCCF for approval. "The proposal for the Navegaon tiger reserve is being prepared," he said.
The move came after the state forest department was asked by the Union ministry of environment and forests to send proposals to declare the two sanctuaries as tiger reserves. The idea was to ensure gene flow of tigers and strengthen tiger conservation, said Saxena.
He said that both Nagzira and Navegoan are protected areas. The sanctuaries are potential areas for tiger habitat and prey species. "Once declared as tiger reserves, we can get more funds, help from experts, and plan better strategies for overall conservation," he explained.
"To declare them as tiger reserves, more areas have to be merged into the existing protected areas. In case of the Nagzira wildlife sanctuary, the area of the sanctuary will be expanded from the current 152.58 square km to approximately 350 square km," Saxena said.
He pointed out that a notification of buffer zones for these two protected areas will follow the proposals. A buffer zone is a protective area around the reserve and is necessary for tiger habitats in the country. A 2006 amendment to the Wildlife Conservation Act mandated creation of buffer zones for conservation. No mining or industrial projects are permitted in these buffer zones.
Underlining the importance of these locations, experts point out that the two reserves are near to each other and contain source population of tiger. They are also linked with the Pench-Tadoba corridor.
In another boost to tiger conservation efforts in the state, the Union ministry of environment and forest recently approved the creation of four posts of the rank of inspector general of forests for the three regional offices and the headquarters of the National Tiger Conservation Authority(NTCA) that are going to be set up in Nagpur, Guwahati and Bangalore.
Saxena said that the Nagpur office will not only cater to the needs of Maharashtra but cover all the 39 tiger reserves falling in the 17 tiger states. "It aims at decentralisation of the process of monitoring the conservation of tigers. At present, for all needs and issues pertaining to the tiger reserves, one has to go to NTCA's office in Delhi. With an office in Nagpur, it will be easier and speedier to start process,'' he said.
