PM Announces New Department Of Wildlife Under The Ministry Of Environment And Forests

PM Announces New Department Of Wildlife Under The Ministry Of Environment And Forests



March 19, 2010: At the fifth National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) meeting held in New Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his capacity as Chairman announced the setting up of a dedicated Department of Wildlife under the charge of Minister of State for Environment and Forests (Independent Charge) Jairam Ramesh.


Informed sources confirmed that the decision was taken after Mr. Valmik Thapar, Member NWBL made a statement on the dire situation of wildlife in the country, as exemplified by the fate of the Sariska and Panna Reserves, which suffered local extinction of tigers at the hands of poachers. A proposal for a separate lion conservation project was also mooted by Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi. Other matters that came up for discussion included crop raiding by chital deer and a demand to delist corals from schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. This was opposed by all non-official members because corals are vital to the biodiversity of our oceans. Members also expressed concern at the rising number of accidental deaths suffered by wild elephants that were being run over by trains in wildlife areas, particularly in North Bengal and Uttarakhand.


The National Board for Wildlife is the apex body that decides wildlife policy in India and it has a total of 45 serving members, the Minister of Environment & Forests, plus 15 non-official members, four of whom are part of a 12-member Standing Committee of the NBWL, which handles day-to-day decisions and monitoring of the directions issued by the NBWL. Dr. Karan Singh, who was the first Chairman of Project Tiger when the project was first launched in 1973.