Important Facts For Prelims
Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary
- 25 Apr 2020
- 2 min read
Why in News
Recently, the National Board for Wild Life (NBWL) has recommended coal mining in a part of an Dehing Patkai elephant reserve in Assam.
- Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve includes the Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary.
Key Points
- The Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary is also known as the Jeypore Rainforest.
- It is located in the Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts of Assam.
- Dehing is the name of the river that flows through this forest and Patkai is the hill at the foot of which the sanctuary lies.
- Fauna: Rare fauna found in the region include Chinese pangolin, flying fox, wild pig, sambar, barking deer, gaur, serow and Malayan giant squirrels.
- It is the only sanctuary in India which is home to seven different species of wild cats - tiger, leopard, clouded leopard, leopard cat, golden cat, jungle cat and marbled cat.
- Assamese macaque, a primate found in the forest, is in the red list of Near Threatened species.
- Flora: Dehing Patkai is a deciduous rainforest interspersed with semi-evergreen and lush green flora.
National Board for Wildlife (NBWL)
- National Board for Wildlife is a statutory Board constituted officially in 2003 under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
- The NBWL is under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
- The NBWL is chaired by the Prime Minister and is responsible for promotion of conservation and development of wildlife and forests.
- The board is ‘advisory’ in nature and can only advise the Government on policy making for conservation of wildlife.
- The standing committee of NBWL is chaired by the Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
- The standing committee approves all the projects falling within protected wildlife areas or within 10 km of them.
