BENGALURU: Amid ongoing political turmoil in the state, HD Kumaraswamy-led government has appointed honorary wildlife wardens for 20 districts, which are crucial and sensitive.
This was a long-pending demand. Now, some of these districts will have two to three wardens to protect the wildlife.
As per Wildlife Protection Act, honorary wildlife wardens have been appointed for a period of two years.
In the first list, appointments have been made for districts having tiger reserves, national parks and sanctuaries, eco-sensitive areas and conservation reserves.
For remaining 10 districts, including Bengaluru, names are yet to be finalized. Tumakuru (Santosh Pavagada), Chikkamagaluru (G Veeresh), Koppal (Indrajit Ghorpade), Shivamogga (Vinayak) and Belagavi (Sachin Patil) have got one warden each. Uttar Kannada, Chamrajanagara and Mysuru have got three wildlife wardens each.
Their names include Girish Patil, Balachandra Hegde, Rahul Bavaji, Ganesh N, KB Cholaraju, Shivkumar, Krithika, Sunil S S and Lokesh Mosale. Kodagu (Madappa, KC Bidappa), Chitradurga (Karthik, Srinivas), and Ballari (Santosh Martin, Dr G Manohar) have got two wildlife wardens each.
Wildlife conservationists and NGOs have welcomed the appointment of the wardens.
“This is the first time that selection of wardens has been done based on their interest, qualifications and knowledge about wildlife. Most of the wardens have worked in the forests or have been associated with protecting wildlife for many years. Seems the forest department has done a lot of ground exercise to find the right people for the job,” said a green activist.
As per Wildlife Protection Act (WPA), people who have an interest and the capacity to render help for the cause of wildlife should be appointed as wardens.
Their duties include assisting the forest department in controlling clandestine trading, poaching and hunting of wildlife.
In fact, the Central guidelines say subject specialists with passion for conservation and interest in taking awareness campaigns should be selected.