Kalimpong,
April 6: The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development
will launch a programme aimed at preserving the wildlife sanctuaries
while ensuring that the human population is not deprived of livelihood.
The project to be conducted with the
help of NGOs and forest departments will cover the trans-Himalayan
region. The centre will also help to promote an economically sound ecosystem
that will improve the living standards of the mountain population.
Helped by the Eco-Tourism and Conservation Society of Sikkim, the
organisation has already started a training programme yesterday
that will continue till April 11.
Project director and a member of the centre, Nakul Chettri, said:
"One of the main reasons for starting the programme is to conserve
the wildlife sanctuaries in these areas. The protected places are
located in small pockets where there is no migration of animals.
As a result in-breeding takes place, which is not a healthy sign.
Our purpose is to create corridors between the different sanctuaries
in a particular region," said Chettri.
Christened the Kanchenjunga Landscape, the areas covered by the
project will include Singhalila National Park, Sinchel Wildlife
Sanctuary, Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary and Neora Valley National
Park in Darjeeling district, Kanchenzonga Biosphere Reserve and
Baresy Rhododendron Sanctuary in Sikkim and Kanchenjunga Conservation
Area in Nepal. The Toorsa Strict Reserve and Jigme Dorjee National
Park in Bhutan will also come under the "preservation of landscape
programme".
The other part of the project will concentrate on training villagers
residing near the sanctuaries and reserves so that they do not use
forest resources, like timber, to sustain themselves. The centre
plans to provide them with alternative means of employment and livelihood
to ensure that the pressure on the forests is reduced.
"Training villagers is most important. The people living in
the villages surrounding the protected areas disturb the eco-system
of the place by felling trees and poaching," said Chettri.
Courtesy
The Telegraph |
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