By IANS,
New Delhi : The union government is taking measures to amend laws to ensure that all critical wildlife habitats like elephant corridors become legal entities like national parks and sanctuaries, so that they can be protected, Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan said Friday.
The minister said there are critical wildlife habitats which are not notified, and the environment ministry is committed to taking steps to amend laws to ensure that these become legal entities.
“We will seek amendments to the Wildlife Act so that critical wildlife habitats become legal entities and there is no scope of their destruction. I will make sure that habitats and corridors of wildlife are well protected and local people are part of the conservation,” Natarajan said at a meeting to commemorate World Wildlife Week.
The efforts to declare critical wildlife habitats as legal entities hold importance, as that will ensure no infrastructure projects can come up in these areas.
At present, the environment ministry is being blamed for delaying clearances for projects in such areas. No project can come up in critical wildlife habitats once these are declared as protected.
“The anthropogenic pressure on our forests and wildlife is much more than ever before due to the thrust on economic growth and creation of more jobs. However, I will stop at nothing to preserve wildlife as the environment minister,” she said.
The minister said that she will ensure that conservation becomes a mainstream agenda in economy, government and bureaucracy.