Conservation win: mining operations halted in Eastern Assam

Elephant Family were saddened to hear of the decision made earlier this year to build a coal-mining plant within a wildlife sanctuary situated near the town of Margherita, Assam.

Back in April, the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) had been in talks with India’s North Eastern Coalfields (NEC) discussing the use of 98.59 hectares of land from the Saleki Proposed Reserve Forest land for a coal mining project.

In what was felt by conservationists in the area to be a shocking decision, the NBWL approved the plan and allowed develpoment of the open-cast coal mine to go ahead.

However, as a result of opposition from conservation groups on the ground and a number of protests against the development, the Gauhati High Court has called for a temporary halt on all mining operatoins.

We were delighted to hear this update from our conservation project partners.

Whilst only temporary, this is a very positive win for the region and means that multiple species that would have had their habitats destroyed by the development, are for now safe.

We will continue to support efforts in the region to protect its rainforests and biodiversity, to ensure that this short term decision becomes a long term change.

Read the full article from The Hindu.