Established to protect the endangered flagship species Musk Deer and its habitat,  the picturesque  Askot Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh has been finally declared as an Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ). However, as per the gazette notification issued by the Union Environment Ministry on December 3, the Sanctuary area has been reduced—a stretch of 146 square kilometers along which over 111 villages are located has  been kept out of the ESZ ambit with an aim to make the flagship species habitat safe from human interferences.

As a result, the sanctuary area is now limited from original area 599.93 square kilometers to only 454.65 square km giving a comparatively little area for the fauna to move around.

 Known as ‘Green Paradise on the Earth’, the Sanctuary which is situated some 54 km north of Pithoragarh in Kumaon region was established in 1986 primarily for preserving the musk deer and other rare Himalayan species and their natural habitats. But because of the presence of the villages, it had been witnessing increased human encroachment as well as human animal conflicts.

“Due to 111 villages in the region, biotic interference and unnatural activities possibilities of man-wildlife conflict had been rampant. Hence, the notification will help control excessive grazing, lopping, fire incidence, unscientific exploitation of land, mining and other activities associated with development in the Askot Wildlife Sanctuary,” said an official from the Ministry.

It is necessary to conserve and protect the area, the extent and boundaries of Askot Wildlife Sanctuary declared as ESZ from ecological, environmental and biodiversity point of view and to prohibit industries or class of industries and their operations and processes in the region,” he added.

In the sanctuary there are 2600 plants, 250 birds and 37 mammal species like snow leopard, Himalayan black bear, Himalayan tahr, blue sheep, serow besides musk deer. Among the fauna are species like loong, monal, kalij pheasant and cheer pheasant.

The sanctuary also has rare varieties of 2,600 Himalayan herbs and 250 varieties of birds and 37 varieties of reptiles.