94 base camps, eight strike forces created to protect National parks, sanctuaries in Andhra Pradesh

The Union minister of state for environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC) recently told that The Andhra Pradesh government has set up 94 base camps and stationed eight strike forces in national parks and sanctuaries to curb mining, human encroachment, hunting, poaching in these protected areas.

The management of these protected areas is done by the state as well as Union Territory governments as per the provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. These activities are being carried out as per the approved management plans to maintain the delicate biodiversity balance in the national parks and sanctuaries.

AP has 16 national parks, of which Nagarjuna Sagar-Srisailam sanctuary, spanning 1402 square km, Sri Penusila Narasimha Sanctuary, spread over 1031 sq km and Papikonda National Park covering an area of 1013 sq km are among the largest.

What is a National Park

An area, whether within a sanctuary or not, can be notified by the state government to be constituted as a National Park, by reason of its ecological, faunal, floral, geomorphological, or zoological association or importance, needed to for the purpose of protecting & propagating or developing wildlife therein or its environment.

No human activity is permitted inside the national park except for the ones permitted by the Chief Wildlife Warden of the state under the conditions given in CHAPTER IV, WPA 1972.

There are 101 existing national parks in India covering an area of 40,564.00 km2, which is 1.23% of the geographical area of the country (National Wildlife Database, December, 2019).