Three more protected forest areas in Punjab

Hoshiarpur, Jun 14 (UNI) The Punjab government has declared three more protected areas under the Wildlife (Protection) Act for the conservation of biodiversity in the state, Minister for Forest and Wildlife Preservation Tikshan Sud stated here today.

He said the government had approved the Kathlaur-Kushlian wildlife sanctuary comprising protected forests of 346 acres in Kushlian and 1550 acres in Kathlaur and adjoining area of villages Raipur, Bahadurpur and Jaswa in Pathankot tehsil.

The government has also approved the case for declaration of Keshopur-Miani Wetland Community Reserve comprising of 850 acres of Panchayat area of Miani, Keshopur, Matwa, Dalla and Magarmudian in Gurdaspur district.

Another area of approximately 3167 acres rich in biodiversity of village Lalwan in Garhshankar tehsil of Hoshiarpur district had also been approved as Lalwan Community Reserve.

Community Reserve Management Committees comprising representatives nominated by village Panchayat, NGOs and honorary wildlife wardens for protecting the environment and biodiversity in these protected areas would soon be set up.

There was long standing demand from the people of the concerned areas to set up such Reserves, so the Community Reserves were being declared in the state for the first time and would be managed with the active participation of local community, panchayat, forest and wildlife officials jointly. State government would seek funds under centrally sponsored scheme from Union Ministry of Environment and Forests for the development of these areas.

Previously, the state had 11 Wildlife Sanctuaries in Patiala, Sangrur, Ferozepur, Hoshiarpur and Rupnagar districts covering an area of about 31612 hectares. Adding additional areas of 2364 hectares in Protected Area Network in the state would help in conserving, protecting and promoting biodiversity and environmental conservation in the state, which is urgently required at the moment.

The Forest and Wildlife Preservation Minister further stated that the problem of damage to crops by wild animals would also be addressed by fencing of wildlife areas and other suitable measures.

UNI