The 11th meeting of the State Board for Wildlife was held on April 24 under the chairmanship of Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, Brigadier (Dr) BD Mishra (Retd), at the Lieutenant Governor’s Secretariat. The meeting was attended by members of the wildlife board.

The proceedings commenced with the LG and board members observing a minute’s silence to pay tribute to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack.
Chief Secretary, Dr Pawan Kotwal, IAS, informed the board members about the request made by the LG to renowned wildlife expert Dr MK Ranjitsinh for assistance in drafting a detailed wildlife profile of Ladakh, a comprehensive wildlife policy for the region, and guidelines on the role of armed forces in the protection and conservation of wildlife in Ladakh. Dr Ranjitsinh has already completed the wildlife profiling, and work is ongoing on the other two aspects.

Dr Kotwal also presented the assessment report on the status of the black-necked crane in the High Altitude Cold Desert (Changthang) Wildlife Sanctuary for 2024-25. He informed the members that 25 wildlife stewards had been engaged by the Department of Wildlife Protection to monitor and protect the black-necked crane population. The stewards, trained for seven months, have been assigned to track data on the number of cranes, nest sites, eggs, and chicks in the sanctuary's 25 habitats. Currently, Ladakh is home to 69 adult cranes and 20 chicks.

Additionally, Dr Kotwal reported that a workshop had been held to train user agencies such as the Army and Border Roads Organisation (BRO) officials in handling wildlife diversion proposals through the Parivesh 2.0 portal with the help of NIC Delhi.

During the meeting, 23 infrastructure development proposals from the Indian Army and the Intelligence Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), along with proposals for defence roads and transmission line clearances in Karakoram and Changthang Wildlife Sanctuaries, were presented. After detailed discussions, all proposals were approved by the board members.

Chairman/CEC of LAHDC Leh, Advocate Tashi Gyalson, wildlife expert Dr MK Ranjitsinh, Dr RK Singh, and Director of Snow Leopard Conservancy India Trust, Tsewang Namgail, contributed valuable suggestions during the meeting. These included holding consultations with local councillors on proposed defence projects to avoid confusion, minimizing land acquisition from villagers, and installing barricades and speed barriers to protect endangered species like the Pallas’s Cat from speeding vehicles.

Former PCCF Jigmet Takpa, IFoS (Retd); DGP Ladakh, Dr SD Singh Jamwal, IPS; Commissioner/Secretary, Dr Vasanthakumar N, IAS; CCF Ladakh, Sajad Mufti, IFoS; Secretary, IT, Shashanka Ala, IAS; officials from Army, Border Roads Organisation; PDD, Wildlife Department; Wildlife Institute of India and other wildlife experts were present in the meeting.