Wildlife Corridors Essential For Seasonal Movement of Animals, Experts

Bhubaneswar: A two-day awareness programme, including a corridor walk and public meetings, was organised along the Debrigarh–Gomarda inter-state wildlife corridor connecting Odisha and Chhattisgarh to sensitise people and forest staff about its ecological importance.

The initiative was organised by the Ever Green Forum in collaboration with the Hirakud Wildlife Division of Odisha and the Sarangarh-Bilaigarh Forest Division of Chhattisgarh. The corridor walk began at the Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary and concluded at Paikini near the Gomarda Wildlife Sanctuary.

Wildlife corridors enable animals such as elephants, tigers, gaurs, wild boars, nilgai and wild dogs to move between forests for food, water and breeding. However, rapid population growth, urbanisation, mining, road expansion and deforestation have severely impacted these corridors, officials said.

The Debrigarh–Gomarda corridor connects major protected areas, including the Achankamar, Indravati and Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserves in Chhattisgarh and the Sunabeda Wildlife Sanctuary, facilitating seasonal wildlife movement.

As part of the programme, four public meetings were held at Lakhanpur, Karla, Kapasira and Paikini, while awareness sessions were conducted in two schools in Lakhanpur. Forest officials, wildlife experts, local representatives and community members participated in the events.

Among those present were former PCCF Ashok Biswal, former DFO Suresh Mishra, Hirakud Wildlife DFO Ansupragyan Das, Sarangarh-Bilaigarh DFO Bipul Agarwal, Ever Green Forum president Dr Prakash Jena and wildlife expert Arindam Parichha.

Regional Chief Conservator of Forests, Sambalpur Circle, T. Ashok Kumar, appreciated the initiative and said the department would discuss the corridor’s conservation with officials and take necessary steps.

Dr Jena said the forum plans to launch a research proposal on World Wildlife Day 2026 to study the current status of elephant corridors identified since 2009 across Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand as part of elephant conservation efforts.