Conservation takes backseat as govt fills Karnataka Wildlife Board with political appointees

Bengaluru: Political considerations have prevailed over environmental concerns in the State Board of Wildlife (SBWL), constituted in view of rising man-animal conflicts across the state.

The SBWL has the task of monitoring the protected areas and scrutinising various projects proposed by public and private agencies to ensure that conservation doesn't take a backseat in the name of development.

In Karnataka, where a person gets killed every week in the man-animal conflict, protection of wildlife habitats has become critical. As per the rules, the SBWL is composed of three legislative members, three representatives of NGOs in the wildlife conservation sector and 10 eminent conservationists, ecologists and environmentalists.

In a notification issued on Friday, the government set up the SBWL with the chief minister as its chairman and forest minister as vice chairman along with three legislative members: Ashoka Pattana (Ramadurga), H M Ganesha Prasad (Gundlupet) and Puttanna (MLC, Bengaluru Central Teachers Constituency).

However, the government has appointed Dhruv M Patil, son of M B Patil, Minister for Large and Medium Scale and Infrastructure; Vaishali Kulkarni, daughter of former mining minister and Dharwad MLA Vinay Kulkarni and Congress spokesperson Sanketh Poovaiah under the heads of "conservation biologists, biologists and environmentalists''. The remaining members include an orthodontist with no background in wildlife conservation, and wildlife photographers.

Interestingly, five of the 10 nominated members are from Bengaluru. A majority of the nominated members are wildlife photographers with hardly any technical knowledge. The NGO representatives include heads of Wildlife Association of South India (WASI), Tigers Unlimited Wildlife Society and Bengaluru Environmental Trust, all based in Bengaluru.

Retired IFS officer and former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests B K Singh expressed dismay at the development. "It's unfortunate that there is no real expert on wildlife in the team of nominated members. Wildlife photographers cannot play the role of wildlife biologists. The government needs experts who can give unbiased opinions without fear. Since serving officers have limitations in speaking against the projects, the government should ideally look for experts who understand the current crisis in the management of wildlife," said.