Nuapada: Villagers from across 30 villages in the Sunabeda Wildlife Sanctuary of the district have pledged to protect the flora and fauna in the sanctuary at the awareness camp organised by the Sunabeda (wildlife) range at Gatibeda village.

To sensitise the villagers, Sunabeda (wildlife) range officer Prafulla Kumar Duria said the sanctuary was now threatened by timber mafia and poachers. "The timber mafia and the poachers are posing threat to the forest wealth and wildlife. This has resulted in loss in forest cover and fewer numbers of animals in the sanctuary. The villagers living in the sanctuary have to take responsibility to save the forest and wildlife," he said.

He also expressed concern over the issue of forest fire and sought help of the villagers. "I hope that it would be a good idea to form village committees to deal with forest fire. The committee will be adequately compensated for the work," he said.

The villagers and panchayat representatives, who gathered at the event on Friday, took pledge to protect the forest and the animals in the sanctuary.

Til Singh Bhunjia of Sunabeda said they would oppose any kind of tree felling in the forest. "We will neither kill any animal, nor will we allow any poachers," he said.

"The forest and its wildlife are a part and parcel of our life. It is time to protect them," he said. The event concluded with a play on forest and animal protection performed by the villagers and employees of the Sunabeda wildlife department.