High Court directs Goa to notify Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and nearby areas as tiger reserve within three months

High Court directs Goa to notify Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and nearby areas as tiger reserve within three months

Subject :Environment

Section: Protected Area in new

Context:

• The Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court on July 24 directed the Government of Goa to notify the 208 sq. km. Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS) and its surrounding areas as a tiger reserve, and issue a notification within three months.

Tiger population:

• The International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates that 3,726 to 5,578 tigers live in the wild worldwide.
• Out of these, the tiger population in India, as per the 2023 Tiger Census, is estimated at 3,167.
• In 1947, at the time of Independence of India, the estimate [of tigers in the wild] in India was 40,000 tigers. Therefore, in less than 76 years, the tiger population has decreased by almost 92%.

Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS):

• Goa is the only state in India which has protected the complete Western Ghats’ section within a state.
• This region is part of the Western Ghats landscape, and is regarded as a Global Biodiversity Hotspot.
• Goa’s four wildlife sanctuaries are located on the eastern side of the state in the Western Ghats, covering an area of about 750 km2 (290 sq mi).
• The Mahdei Wildlife Sanctuary and Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary and Mollem National Park all fall within the Mhadei River basin.
• Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary is located just to the south of Mhadei in Goa.
• The Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary is a 208.5-km2 (80.5-mi2) protected area in the Indian state of Goa in the Western Ghats of South India.
• It is located in the North Goa District, Sattari taluka near the town of Valpoi.
• The sanctuary is an area of high biodiversity, and is being considered to become a Project Tiger tiger reserve because of the presence of Bengal tigers.
• The sanctuary is administered by the Goa State Forest Department.
• The sanctuary includes the Vagheri Hills, some of the highest peaks in North Goa.
• The Mhadei River, known downstream as the Mandovi River, the lifeline of the state of Goa, originates in Karnataka, travels28.8 km (17.9 mi) in Karnataka, passes 9.4 km (5.8 mi) through the Mahdei Wildlife Sanctuary and meets the Arabian Sea at Panaji after traveling 81.2 km (50.5 mi) in Goa.

Declaration of an area as a tiger reserve:

• According to subsection (1) of section 38V of the Wild Life Protection Act of 1972, “The state government shall notify an area as a Tiger Reserve on the suggestion of the tiger conservation authority.”
• The recommendation is required to be accepted by the state.
• A tiger reserve’s limits may not be changed without the National Board for Wild Life’s approval and the National Tiger Conservation Authority’s suggestion. Unless it is in the public interest and with the consent of the National Board for Wild Life and the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
• No State Government may de-notify a tiger reserve.
• Critical tiger habitats (CTH) are designated under the Wild Life Protection Act (WLPA), which is also known as the core of tiger reserves.
• According to the law, these regions must be preserved inviolate for the conservation of tigers without compromising the rights of the Scheduled Tribes or other forest inhabitants.
• The state government notifies CTH after consulting with the committee of experts it formed specifically for the purpose.

List of Tiger Reserves in India: