Forest shrinkage genesis of wildlife related crimes: Sonowal

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has asked the forest officers to identify the challenges posing danger to wildlife and develop mechanism to counter them.
Interacting with women forest officers here today, he said, "The fact that forest land is shrinking is a cause of concern as most of the problems are precipitating from the shrinkage of forest land."
"Encroachment is one of the reasons leading to shrinking of forest land", Sonowal said and called upon the forest officers to put 'protection of forest land' into their agenda of priorities.
He also asked the women forest officers to take a proactive role in the assessment of forest properties and formulate a plan for it.

Opining that a good relation between forest officials and the people living in the fringes of forest areas is vital, he asked the Forest Officers to build a synergy with the local people who can serve as a deterrent against wildlife-related crimes.
Exhorting the officers to work with fresh ideas aimed at exploring employment avenues for the local youths, he said with this objective, the government has decided to keep 'Kaziranga National Park' open for eight months for tourists on an experimental basis.
Sonowal also stressed on winning the hearts of the people living along the fringe areas so as to create a shield against wildlife crimes, including poaching.

The women forest officers, who were led by Environment and Forest Minister Pramila Rani Bharhma along with Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Indian Forest Service officers Ranjana Gupta and Alka Bharghava vowed to work resolutely for the promotion of wildlife in Assam.