Encroachment and poaching have put wildlife in peril: CM Sarbananda Sonowal

GUWAHATI, Oct 6: “Assam has the privilege of sustaining a verdant wild life in its cradle. However, trespassing into the territory of wild life by vested interests including the poachers has put the population of wild life in peril,” said State’s chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

Speaking at the 64th Wild Life Week 2018, organized at Srimanta Sankardeva International Auditorium on Saturday Sarbananda Sonowal asked the conservationists, people in general, students and government machinery to put up a united effort to create a protective shield for the wild lives. He however, hailed the role of forest guards, conservationists and the people living in the fringe districts namely Biswanath, Sonitpur, Nagaon, Golaghat and Karbi Anglong of Kaziranga National Park for bringing down the poaching cases and considerable rise in the population of rhinoceros and other wild lives in the state.

The Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal also said that Assam has rich reserve of bio-diversity and there should be a well-coordinated and concerted efforts to preserve its rich bio-diversity. He also asked the Environment and Forest Department to organize awareness rallies in all parts of the state to sensitize the people and motivate them to protect and promote the rich bio-diversity of the state.

Referring to man-animal conflict which is essentially attributed by the shrinkage of habitats and food of animals, Sonowal said that occasions like Wild Life Week should strive to generate awareness and lend capacity building by taking some pragmatic steps to spearhead the people’s efforts for the protection of animals and their habitats.

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal also said that Assam etched its name world-wide for the famous one horned rhinoceros. If the state wants to continue to have its name in the parlance of world life tourism its floral and faunal resources have to be preserved at all costs. Sonowal on the occasion said that government is preparing an all inclusive roadmap for projecting Assam as one of the most beautiful and exotic tourist destinations and he appealed to all to extend their cooperation to make government’s effort a success. He also acknowledged the untiring efforts of three brand ambassadors of Assam forests namely Jadav Payeng, Chandra Kanta Basumatary and Ananda Khataniar for their immense contribution in wildlife preservation.

Chief Minister Sonowal also distributed prizes to the school students for participating in art competitions synchronizing with the occasion. Environment and Forest Minister Parimal Suklabaidya also spoke on the occasion. The programme which was organized by Environment and Forest Department witnessed the presence of MP Pradan Baruah, MLA Ranoj Pegu, Ramakanta Deuri, Terosh Gowala, Bolin Chetia, Additional Chief Secretary Ravi Capoor and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests SK Srivastava along with a host of dignitaries, a communiqué said.