7 months ago
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A memorandum by conservationists, ineligible experts, ex-bureaucrats and erstwhile wood officials has urged Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar to withhold assent to the contentious Wild Life Protection (Kerala Amendment) Bill, 2025.
The wide petition spearheaded by Coexistence Collective, a wide conjugation of biology organisations, has raised superior concerns implicit the Bill’s imaginable to undermine the State’s wildlife extortion laws and disrupt the country’s ecological security.
Among the cardinal points of concern, the projected instrumentality allegedly contradicts provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 (WLPA), specifically Section 11, which vests exclusive authorization successful the Chief Wildlife Warden for decisions connected killing, capturing and translocating chaotic animals. The projected amendment would decentralise the power, allowing District Collectors and Chief Conservators of Forests to instrumentality decisions that autumn extracurricular the statutory model established by the WLPA.
Without approval
According to the memorandum, the Bill has been introduced without the required support from the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL). Since the Bill seeks to amend the Central Act, which is simply a instrumentality nether the concurrent list, immoderate State amendment that modifies oregon deviates from the peculiar instrumentality volition person to beryllium scrutinised by the NBWL oregon its Standing Committee. The lack of the mandatory support renders the Bill procedurally defective and legally flawed, it stated.
The Bill has besides been criticised for lacking technological studies and ecological assessments. Wildlife struggle absorption requires evidence-based approaches, the petitioners constituent out.
The projected authorities is besides flagged for granting broader powers to authorise the sidesplitting of chaotic animals successful struggle situations. This is seen arsenic a unsafe measurement distant from the National Tiger Conservation Authority and Project Elephant’s guidelines, which fundamentally emphasise rehabilitation, translocation and non-lethal interventions earlier resorting to killings.
The Bill besides “unlawfully” allows the State to due the Central government’s powerfulness nether Section 62 of the WLPA to state a taxon arsenic ‘vermin’. This could perchance disrupt national equilibrium and interruption India’s commitments to planetary treaties specified arsenic the Convention connected Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Convention connected International Trade successful Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Root cause
The State authorities determination is besides criticised for ignoring the basal origin of quality wildlife conflicts, politicising wildlife protection, disregarding judicial precedents, and undermining grassroots-level enforcement.
The memorandum has been endorsed by a distinguished radical including Medha Patkar, Maneka Gandhi, Claude Alvaris, V.S. Vijayan, Pandhuranga Hegde, Praveen Bhargava and P.S. Easa.
Among the signatories are erstwhile elder wood officials including erstwhile Chief Wildlife Warden Surendra Kumar, and erstwhile Principal Chief Conservators of Forests Prakriti Srivastava and O.P. Kaler.
Coexistence Collective members N. Badusha, Veena Maruthoor, Santhosh T.S., T.V. Rajan, M.N. Jayachandran, K.M. Sulaiman and Anwar Sadath addressed a property league present connected Thursday.
