From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore

Bangalore, Aug 25: The Western Ghat Task Force has recommended to the State government to declare the Amruthamahal Kaval lands as ecologically sensitive areas to protect the habitat and biodiversity.

The Western Ghat Task Force Chairman Ananth Hegde Ashisar, who submitted a report on Amruthamahal Kaval to Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda in Bangalore on Thursday, lamented that nearly 50 per cent of the Kaval land area has been encroached.

The Amruthakaval Kaval lands located in Chikmagalur, Hassan, Chitradurga and Tumkur districts were meant for cattle grazing and fodder development besides breeding of cattle, he said.

The total kaval land area under the Animal Husbandry Department is 27,468.9 hectares and only 1298 Amruthamahal cattle survived.

Nearly 15.60 per cent of the land was protected though afforestation with the help of Department of Forest. But barely 23.92 per cent of the land was available for the grazing and fodder development, the report said.

The Amruthamahal Kavals have been facing many serious challenges on account of various factors such as poor management policy and practices, afforestation in grassland, over grazing and illicit grazing, wood logging and poaching of wild life, local encroachments and undue land allotments as well as invading species.

'All these factors led to pushing the rare and endangered cattle and bio-diversity to the extinct," the report said.

Hegde said that Amruthamahal Kaval lands should not be diverted for non-forestry and non-animal husbandry purpose and a joint re-survey of kaval lands should be taken up immediately.

The report said supportive structures such as NGOs need to be roped in for the awareness, motivation and training programme for ‘Kavalgar’ and ‘Servegaar’ on the importance of conservation of kaval lands and knowledge of Amruthamahal Kaval breed.

However, the report opposed appointment of herds-men on contract basis and recommended their appointment on permanent basis for better quality and quantity management of Kaval land cattle.

Hegde said there are 4,000 forest committees but only 1,000 have been functioning effectively for the last few years.

The Chief Minister, in his remarks, said protection of Kaval lands was a major challenge to the Government and asked the Forest Minister to study in detail the report.

Members of Task Force urged Forest Minister C P Yogeshwar to establish a Western Ghat Research Institute to conduct all studies under one institute