Maharashtra’s 16th State Board of Wildlife (SBWL) meeting headed by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray approved the declaration of 10 new Conservation Reserves (CR) & 1 New Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS) in Maharashtra. Kanhargaon in Chandrapur district was declared a Wildlife Sanctuary making it Maharashtra’s 50th Wildlife Sanctuary.

10 Conservation Reserves:

i.The 10 CRs are Mahendri, Amboli-Dodamarg (Sindhudurg), Jor-Jambhli (Satara), Munia (Nagpur) and Chandgad, Panhalgad, Vishalgad, Gaganbawda, Mayni and Ajra-Bhudargad.

ii.Eight CRs are situated in the Western Maharashtra and two are situated in Vidarbha.

Key Points:

i.With these additions, Maharashtra has expanded its protected area network over 10, 807 Square Kilometres (Sq kms), which is the highest in India.

ii.Kanhargaon sanctuary covers an area of 269 Square Kilometres and is set to play a major role in conservation of Tigers & Leopards.

iii.According to a survey conducted by Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) in 2015, 10 Tigers & 23 Leopards live in Kanhargaon region.

iv.After the additions, Maharashtra would have 6 National Parks (1. 273.56 Sq kms), 50 Wildlife Sanctuaries (6, 727.9 Sq kms) & 17 CRs (1, 498.5 Sq kms).

v.The Main objective of the approval is to reduce man-animal conflicts in the state.

About Maharashtra:

Tiger Reserves - Bor Tiger Reserve, Melghat Tiger Reserve, Nawegaon-Nagzira Tiger Reserve, Sahyadri Tiger Reserve, Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve

Cricket Stadiums - Wankhede Stadium (Mumbai), Brabourne Stadium (Mumbai), Vidarbha Stadium (Nagpur), Maharashtra Cricket Association (Pune).