The first meeting of the Wildlife Board of UT Ladakh was chaired by Lieutenant Governor, R K Mathur on December 19.

The objective of the meeting was to appraise the Wildlife Board members of the status of the wildlife sector of Ladakh and to discuss the way forward.

R K Mathur termed the first meeting of the Wildlife Board as a landmark occasion for UT Ladakh. He asserted that wildlife plays an important role in the entire ecosystem of Ladakh and stressed on taking along development, security, and needs of the people harmoniously to achieve sustainable development for Ladakh.

Based on the consensus of Wildlife Board members, he agreed to take up with the Wildlife Institute of India to rationalize boundaries of wildlife protected areas. 

Taking note of the ex-gratia compensation for livestock loss and injury by wild animals, LG Mathur said government insurance schemes and funding patterns involving local stakeholders including councilors and community members would be put in place. He directed the wildlife department to dispose of pending cases regarding compensation claims within a month and to ensure that such cases are resolved within 15 days in the future. 

Mathur stressed the need to use IT technology to simplify the procedures of claiming ex-gratia compensation.

The proposal to increase the compensation for the death of human beings or domestic animals due to wild animal attacks was approved. Also, he advised considering compensation in injury and crop damage cases. He added that a permanent agenda should be included in the meetings to constantly review the issue of the feral dog. He also stressed the need to review the availability of pasture lands for nomads in the Changthang area.