Separate National Parks Service will do no good to wildlife:Forester

New Delhi, July 10 (UNI) Foresters in the Ministry of Environment have reacted sharply to the Government proposal to create an All India Service for wildlife protection taking it out of the purview of the Indian Forest Service.

The Prime Minister's Office(PMO) has directed the Ministry of Environment and Forests to study the proposal and prepare a feasibility report for setting up an All India National Parks Service, according to sources in the Ministry.

The move is an unwise step, unlikely to do any good to wildlife, said the officials belonging to IFS.

The Ministry has also been asked to examine the feasibility of splitting it in two departments by separating the Forest and Wildlife Wing.

Both these proposals are part of the National Forest Commission recommendations.

However, a majority of Members of the Commission had given a dissenting note on the proposal for creating a separate service for wildlife protection and conservation.

IFS officers say the government was taking this step under the pressure of a section of the wildlife lobby which was ignorant about ground realities.

''Everybody blames the Forest Department for Sariska Tiger Reserve failure, but nobody knows the difficult conditions under which forest employees work. There is very little for the Forest and Wildlife Department in the budget, just a little over one per cent.

Our employees are ill-equipped to fight the vast resources of forest mafia and wildlife traders,'' said a senior officer.

''Sariska happened because nobody cared for wildlife and forests till it did not happen. The paltry amount given to the department speaks volumes about how much the government was concerned about their conservation and protection,'' said another Separating the wildlife from forest goes against the principle of holistic development, they said.

''Forest is the habitat of wildlife. Separating the two will lead to administrative chaos, much to the detriment of the endangered species.'' The government move presumes that all wild animals live only in protected areas, but the fact is that more wildlife is found outside sanctuaries, they said.

For example, a forest official said that in Kerala more biodivesity is to be found outside protected areas.

A Wildlife experts at World Wildlife Fund(WWF) said creation of a separate National Parks Sevice will not be of much help if the insensitivity of the society and the government towards fauna and flora continues.

UNI NAZ MSJ VA BD1322