The State Government will be taking over the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve Trust from January 1, 2013.
The Trust is a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) project initiated in the year 2000 for the conservation and sustainable use of the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve’s Coastal Biodiversity (GOMBRT). This is in accordance with the announcement made in the Tamil Nadu budget for 2012-13 that the government would continue to fund the Trust even after the UNDP funding comes to an end by December 2012.
The project was initially planned for seven years and was later extended by three more years up to December 31, 2012.
The Conservator of Forests and Director of Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve Trust, in his letters, requested the State government for continuance of the Trust in its present form, structure and autonomy beyond the project period of December 31, 2012, considering the achievement it has made during the project period of 10 years. He also furnished the plan for the period 2013-14 to 2017-18 and sought an allocation of Rs 10 crore towards the activities of the Trust.