Panel: rope in villagers to protect wildlife

  • 12/03/2008

  • Hindu

A parliamentary panel has asked the Environment and Forests Ministry to sensitise villagers to man-animal co-existence and also involve them in wildlife conservation. In many cases villagers are protecting poachers, says the committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests, in its report submitted in both Houses on Tuesday. Relocation of villages in Project Tiger areas, for which the Ministry has earmarked funds, should be done only where necessary. For, an isolated habitat for tigers could be an easy target of poachers. The ban on trade in tiger parts with neighbours, particularly China