BHUBANESWAR: The state government has initiated process for formation of an expert committee to move forward with its plan of declaring Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary as a tiger reserve (TR).
A senior forest officer informed that the wildlife wing has been asked to suggest names for formation of the tiger expert panel that will help the government in carrying out the assessment and proceed further in the matter. “The panel is expected to be formed within a week,” he said.
This apart, the Forest department will hold gram sabhas in 52 villages located in the vicinity of the proposed tiger reserve, to take local communities into confidence before notifying the tiger reserve, the officer said.
In 2018, the state government had proposed Debrigarh along with Dehchuan and Sarraiadamak-Budharaja reserve forests to be declared as a tiger reserve stating that the rich forest of the region made it a suitable habitat for big cat reintroduction.
Considering its proposal, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), in its 17th technical committee meeting in December 2022, had accorded its in-principle approval for declaration of Debrigarh sanctuary as a tiger reserve.
After ascertaining that Debrigarh had good forest and rich prey base, the apex tiger conservation body had approved the proposal for 804.51 sq km area of the sanctuary and its surrounding forests to be a declared as a tiger reserve. Forest officials said Debrigarh is well-connected with the proposed Sunabeda Tiger Reserve in Odisha and Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve in Chhattisgarh on its southwest. It also has links to Satkosia Tiger Reserve through forests of Angul, Athamalik, Rairakhol and Sambalpur on its south and southeast, they said.
A young adult tiger had also migrated to the Debrigarh sanctuary towards the end of 2022 indicating that the habitat could become an important support to spill over the big cat population in Central India landscape.
As per the department, around eight families from two villages in Debrigarh and 37 families from Jhagadebehera have already been relocated to create inviolate space for wildlife in the protected area. The state government had also received permission from the NTCA last year to bring big cats to Debrigarh sanctuary.