SRINAGAR: The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has notified an Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) around Tral Wildlife Sanctuary. It said that an area extending from zero to 3.26 kilometres from the boundary of Tral Wildlife Sanctuary has been declared as its ESZ.
“The extent of the eco-sensitive zone around the Tral Wildlife Sanctuary ranges from 0 kilometre to 3.26 kilometre from its boundary, encompassing an area of 127.10 square kilometres, which includes 26 villages,” reads the notification.
Historically, parts of the protected area, namely Shikargah and Khangund—previously designated as Conservation Reserves—have the distinction of being among the oldest notified protected areas in the country. Their notification dates back to 1945, when they were governed by the game laws of the Maharaja of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir.
In 2019, these conservation reserves, along with the adjoining areas comprising territorial forest compartments, were upgraded to a Wildlife Sanctuary. The sanctuary came into existence on October 23, 2019, through a notification issued by the Jammu and Kashmir government. The Tral Wildlife Sanctuary forms an important corridor for the movement of Hangul.
“The declaration of the eco-sensitive zone shall help in creating a buffer around the sanctuary area leading to a secure, suitable and viable habitat for the last remnant Hangul population,” reads the notification.
The sanctuary is among the few areas outside Dachigam National Park where the critically endangered Kashmiri Red Deer (Hangul), a Schedule I species as per the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and designated as ‘critically endangered’ in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red Data Book, still survives.
It is also home to other endemic species like the Kashmir Musk Deer (Moschus cupreus) and Kashmir Grey Langur (Semnopithecus ajax). —(KNO)
