Wildlife experts write to Gujarat govt, flag threats to Asiatic lions in Gir

SEven out pose and former members of gujerat’s say room of wildlife have written to the state government seeking a review of a series of permissions and a proposed forest land diversion that they allege threaten the Asiatic lion habitat in and around the Gir landscape.In a representation submitted to the government, the signatories alleged that mining, resort-related development and the re-entry of Maldhari families into protected areas could adversely affect lion corridors and wildlife conservation efforts in the region.The representation said that a proposal to divert 75 hectares of the Babarkot Reserve Forest near Rajula under the Forest Conservation Act (FCA) for mining purposes poses a threat to more than 50 lions and other Schedule I wildlife that permanently inhabit the area. The area also forms part of an identified lion corridor in the Gir Management Plan, the signatories said. However, the diversion proposal describes the area as not being a corridor, which they said is “not the true fact.”The representation also alleges that permission has recently been granted to a folk artist to re-enter a ness in Lilapani, reversing an earlier rejection by the same office in 2023. This is despite the government having allotted land to the family under the Santhani resettlement scheme in Chachai village, it said. The signatories warned that the permission has prompted more than 50 other Maldharis to seek similar re-entry, calling it “absolutely contrary to the government’s own scheme for the resettlement of Maldharis outside the Gir Sanctuary.”They further alleged that forest land near Khicha village in Dhari taluka of Amreli district is being diverted under the Forest Conservation Act (FCA) for a resort named Leonia, which they described as operating illegally. The original land conversion approval was granted only for residential use, not commercial purposes. Earlier, forest officials had blocked access to the resort through reserve forest land, but the current administration has permitted it and initiated a diversion proposal, they said, warning that it “will certainly set a negative precedent.”Mentioning two ongoing Public Interest Litigations (PILs) in the Gujarat High Court related to lion corridors and unnatural lion deaths, the representation warned that the permissions could amount to contempt of court. “If needful is not done immediately, it may prove disastrous and may cause irreversible loss to Gir Protected Areas,” the representation said.The signatories include current members Snehal Patel of Nature Club Surat, advocate Rohit Vyas, C.T. Rana, Suresh Bhatt and Sanjay Kelaiya, and former members Bhushan Pandya and Revtubha Rayjada.