The first meeting
of the newly constituted National Board for Wild Life will take
place tomorrow under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister
Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. It will be attended by the Minister
for Environment & Forests, Shri. T.R. Baalu who is also
the Vice- Chairperson of the Board, 3 Members of Parliament,
Heads of five non-governmental organizations, 10 eminent environmentalists,
representatives from 10 states, the Chief of the Army Staff,
Secretaries of 5 different ministries of the Government of India
and other members.
Several issues
national concern involving wild life e.g., curbing international
trade in wild life products originating from India by setting
up of a specialized cell on the basis of the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and setting up of a Task
Force on Natural Heritage Sites are some of the issues which
are likely to figure prominently at the deliberations of the
Board whose status has now been elevated from that of an advisory
body to a statutory one. The meeting will also explore the possibility
of evolving a mechanism by which programmes and policies of
various sectors are integrated so that poverty alleviation and
bio-diversity conservation go hand- in- hand.
The Prime Minister
will also give away the Rajiv Gandhi Wild Life Conservation
Awards for the year 2002.
