Maharashtra State Board for Wildlife Clears Sanctuary Status for Two Forest Areas and 14 Conservation Reserves

Key facts

• The Maharashtra State Board for Wildlife, chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at its 26th meeting on October 26, 2026, approved declaring two reserved forest areas as wildlife sanctuaries.
• The Kolamarka Conservation Reserve in Gadchiroli district, known for its wild buffaloes, and the newly expanded Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary were approved for declaration as wildlife sanctuaries.
• The Board approved including 588.767 hectares of revenue and private land from six villages—Ogda, Khodde, Tirmal, Pachghar, Phanasad and Amle—in the expanded Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary to make it free of human habitation.
• Proposals were approved to declare 100.139 square kilometres in Koka Wildlife Sanctuary and 255.79 square kilometres in Jayakwadi Bird Wildlife Sanctuary as critical wildlife habitats.
• Fourteen conservation reserves were approved across Pune, Raigad, Nashik, Nandurbar, Thane, Palghar and Chandrapur districts, including Velhe-Mulshi, Bhor-Girigad, Dindori, Surgana, Taharabad, Chinchpada, Alibag, Ghera Manikgad, Lonavala, Gumtara, Jawhar, Asherigad, Dhamani and Ekara.
• Fadnavis directed that routine works such as dam repairs and desilting within sanctuaries be incorporated into management plans, with amendments made within three months through standard operating procedures.
• The meeting discussed notifying core, buffer and eco-sensitive areas of the state's six tiger reserves as silence zones and declaring human-wildlife conflict a natural disaster.