THE TIMES OF INDIA
Sep 30, 2011

NEW DELHI: The Pandora's Box has opened on clearances given to dodgy wildlife and forest projects. The non-official members on the PM-headed National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) - some of the most well-known wildlife conservationists and naturalists in the country - have written to environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan that the panel has turned into a clearing house over the past years.

Another letter, written by a separate group of wildlife experts, has demanded a reform in the forest clearance process.

Prior to Natarajan's tenure, the clearance was handled by three non-official members of the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC).

The NBWL members note that in their last meeting during Jairam Ramesh's tenure as environment minister they were forced to clear most of the 59 proposals to start projects in protected areas - wildlife sanctuaries and national parks - in only two hours. It is mandatory to get a clearance from the standing committee of the NBWL for diverting lands demarcated as protected area under the Wildlife Protection Act.

The NBWL members who have signed the letter include Biswajit Mohanty from the Wildlife Society of Orissa, Asad Rahmani of the Bombay Natural History Society, T R Shankar Raman of the Nature Conservation Foundation, Bivabh Talukdar of Aranyaak, M K Ranjit Sinh, Divyabhanusinh Chavda, Brijendra Singh, Valmik Thapar, Prerna Bindra, Bittu Sehgal, Mitali Kakkar and Uma Ramakrishnan.

read more