Goa to declare 2 of its wildlife sanctuaries as CWHs

Four decades after winning wildlife sanctuary status, Goa’s two richest biodiversity hotspots are on all set to get the status of Critical Wildlife Habitat (CWH). The State Forest Department will soon initiate process to declare Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary and Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary as the CWHs under Tribal Welfare Act.

Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary

“The CWHs will be declared under Tribal Welfare Act, 2006, which will give adequate protection to the forest dwellers,” Deputy Conservator of Forest, Debendra Dalai, told PTI today.

Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary, spread across 86.25 square kilometers area, is located in Canacona taluk bordering with Karnataka. Similarly, Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary covers 240 square kilometers area in Sanguem taluk and is the biggest of all the sanctuaries.

Both these wildlife hotspots were notified as wildlife sanctuaries as back as 1969, within a decade of Goa’s liberation from Portuguese rule