Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Monday said that better coordination between development and conservation of ecosystem is the need of the hour.
While presiding over the 9th meeting of Himachal Pradesh State Board for Wildlife held here, the Chief Minister said forest plays a major role in the maintenance of ecological balance.
"The government has set a target to plant about 1.20 crore saplings during the current year. The forests of the state comprise rich biodiversity and apart from providing fodder, timber and medicinal plants to the local community, the forest also was home to large variety of wildlife," Thakur said.
He said that 15 per cent of the geographical area of the State falls under the protected area network.
"There were five national parks, 25 wildlife sanctuaries and 3 nature conservation reserves in the State. The state government was strictly enforcing Wildlife Conservation Act in the State to protect various endangered species," he said.
The Chief Minister said that endeavours would be made to develop the Pong Dam reservoir as a major tourist attraction keeping in view that large number of migrated birds visit the wetland every year which makes it a bird watchers paradise.
He said that the government would ensure that various developmental activities in wildlife areas cause minimum damages to ecosystem and wildlife.
( With inputs from ANI )