the goan I network
MARGAO
Congress MLA Reginaldo Lourenco has urged Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to give critical importance to the Union Ministry of Forests and Climatic Change report calling for the declaration of Mhadei wildlife sanctuary to be declared as a tiger reserve.
At the same time, the Curtorim MLA said it is of paramount importance to create awareness on safeguards for the people residing in the forested areas of Goa.
In a letter addressed to the Chief Minister, the Congress MLA pointed out that the January 2020 killing of the four tigers in the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary in the forests of Golauli in Sattari taluka is a black spot on the State of Goa when it comes to the protection of wildlife including tigers. “At the same time, we have failed to protect human beings and their livestock including cows, goats, dogs etc who are residing in the forest areas inhabited by wild animals including tigers”, he said, adding “we have miserably failed in tackling the issues of human-wildlife conflict for a long time”.
Saying that the merciless killings of wild animals especially tigers could also be the handiwork of international poachers, mining lobby, real estate developers etc, Reginaldo underscored the need to ascertain their role impartially in all angles.
“With the unfortunate barbaric killing of these four tigers in Goa, our State’s Forest Department’s credibility is at its “all-time low”. They have failed in creating “a demarcated area” for the respective protection of both the wild animals and humans along with their livestock especially in the forest area,” he said, adding, “if we still do not give prominence for the safeguard of flora and fauna, the posterity would mock and curse us for being brutal in destroying the rich ecology of our Goa which we have bequeathed from our ancestors”.
