Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay.
File | Photo Credit: ANI via X/@TNDIPRNEWS The Tamil Nadu government has issued orders to reconstitute the State Board for Wildlife with Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay heading the board as its chairperson.
The Minister for Forests will be the vice-chairperson.The Environment, Climate Change and Forests Department issued a G.O. on October 28, 2026, reconstituting the board under Section 6(1) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The earlier board was reconstituted in April 2022, and the latest exercise follows a request from the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden after the tenure of its non-official members expired.Functions of the State Board for WildlifeThe Board will advise the State government on the selection and management of protected areas, wildlife conservation policies, amendments to wildlife schedules and measures to reconcile the needs of tribal and other forest-dwelling communities with wildlife conservation.
The tenure of non-official members will be two years.Other membersThe three MLAs nominated to the board are M. Sudhakar (Katpadi), S.
Karthikeyan (Madurai East) and M.R. Pallavi (Thiru.Vi.Ka.
Nagar).The board also includes representatives of non-governmental organisations, conservationists, biologists and environmentalists. Among them are Jose Louies of Wildlife Trust of India, T.R.
Shankar Raman of Nature Conservation Foundation, Balaji Vedharajan of OMCAR Foundation, Anita Arjundas of ATREE, V. Arun of Students Sea Turtle Conservation Network and Kishor Rithe of Bombay Natural History Society.Representatives of the Advanced Institute for Wildlife Conservation, Wildlife Institute of India, Botanical Survey of India and Zoological Survey of India are also members.
The Chief Secretary has been named a special invitee, and the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden will serve as member-secretary. Published - November 02, 2026 04:48 pm IST