Bhubaneswar: Odisha has remained in the forefront of management, conservation and research of wildlife occurring in its forests, rivers, estuaries and the coastline. In various ecosystems, the indicator species which have steered conservation objectives include the tiger, three species of crocodiles, the elephant, olive ridley turtles, Irrawaddy dolphin and migratory birds in Chilika Lake.
Around 55 years back, Padmashri Saroj Raj Choudhury, gave the first technology for determining the population of tiger in the wild in India. It was based on pugmark tracking. The Project Tiger was launched from 1973. Odisha joined the national project from Similipal Tiger Reserve.
In 1974-75, Odisha launched country’s first crocodile conservation programmes. Odisha was the first state to have inducted full time researcher officers for wildlife work. The process of declaration of sanctuaries had begun with three crocodile sanctuaries under crocodile project. At present, Odisha is having nineteen wildlife sanctuaries.
For elephant management, Odisha is also one of the leading states of India since 1991. The first management scheme was first drafted in 1989 by the research officer of Similipal. The captive breeding project on pangolin is unique with records at Nandankanan Biological Park.
From the year 2013, March 3 is observed as the ‘World Wildlife Day’. On this date, in 1973 the CITES was adopted (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). CITES plays an important role in ensuring that international trade does not threaten the species’ survival.
On the occasion of World Wildlife Day-2023, the Nature & Wildlife Conservation Society of Odisha and EVER GREEN FORUM organised the Odisha Wildlife Conclave 2023 at JayadevBhawan, Bhubaneswar. The theme for World Wildlife Day 2023 is “Partnerships for wildlife conservation.”
Aswini Kumar Patra, Minister of Tourism, Excise and Odia Language, Literature & Culture inaugurated this mega event as Chief Guest. In his speech, he emphasized on the role of wildlife for ecological balance.
Among others, Debidutta Biswal, PCCF &HoFF, Odisha attended as Guests of Honour on this occasion. Saroj Kumar Patnaik, Former Chief Wildlife Warden and President of NWCSO gave keynote address at the conclave, and Dr Anup Kumar Nayak, Chairman of the conclave presided the meeting.
A souvenir and the Odia book “Panira Raja Kumbhira” (Crocodile- the King of water) were released by the guests on this occasion. The book is written by the two retired wildlife research officers of Odisha Forest Department.
Dr Sudhakar Kar, Retired Senior Wildlife Research Officer was awarded with the Odisha Wildlife Conservation Award carrying a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh. Trinath Bisyiratna, Retired Forester, Vanya Mitra Acharya, former Honorary Wildlife Warden of Mayurbhanj, Hrudananda Jena, Bird Specialist, Ranjita Behera, Snow Skier from Rourkela and Aditya Chandra Panda, Honorary Wildlife Warden of Angul were honoured with Vanya Mitra Awards having cash prize of Rs 10,000 each.
All the guests discussed about the importance of wildlife & forest for healthy environment. Dr.Prakash Chandra Jena, President of EVER GREEN FORUM gave vote of thanks. Among others Susanta Kamar Das, Joint Secretary of NWCSO was also present.
Dr SudhakarKar, Dr LalaAswini Kumar Singh, Dr KhageswarNayak, Dr Sudarsan Panda, Suresh Chandra Mohanty, Dr Rajesh Mohapatra, Dr Manoj V. Nair and Dr Debabrata Swain delivered special talks covering different aspects of wildlife conservation in the state.
In the closing ceremony, PadmashreeDr.PriyambadaMohantyHejmadi, Former Vice Chancellor of Sambalpur University addressed as the Chief Guest. Dr Debabrata Swain, Member of Lokayukta and former PCCF attended as Guest of Honour.
Among others Saroj Kumar Patnaik, Dr Anup Kumar Nayak, Dr Prakash Chandra Jena and Susanta Kumar Das were present. In the exhibition hall, various thematic posters were displayed. Out of these three best posters were selected and awarded with cash prizes. About 300 participants attended this mega event.
