Friday, January 14, 2011

Gujarat forest Dept seeks 3,000 hectare land for Bustard conservation

The Gujarat forest department wants about 3,000 hectares of revenue land near the Bustard Sanctuary in Kutch district to be converted into forest land to save the endangered Great Indian Bustard.

“We have written to the revenue department to convert the revenue land adjoining the Bustard Sanctuary (in Naliya taluka of Kutch) to forest land which could be used for conservation of the Great Indian Bustard. We are yet to get any reply from revenue department with regard to the letter,” Chief Conservator of Forests, Kutch D. K. Sharma told.
“The land which we have asked for is in Naliya and was previously with the Gujarat Energy Development Agency (GEDA), which had done plantation in some part, but most of it is still grassland,”.

The grassland as protected area would help in conservation of the GIB which is a shy creature and hard to spot. Also, the conservation was essential as GIB lays only one egg at a time during the breeding season in June-July.

Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh had also written to the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to convert the revenue land to forest land for conservation of the GIB and thereby prevent its extinction from Gujarat.

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