Jaipur, May 10 (IANS) The Sariska tiger reserve in Rajasthan is all set to get a tiger and a tigress from the Ranthambore national park, to add to the three big cats it acquired earlier. Wildlife officials are hoping the move will help in their tiger breeding plans.
“A team of experts is in Ranthambore now trying to identify a tiger and a tigress to be shifted to Sariska,” a senior official of the Rajasthan forest department told IANS.
Of the three tigers relocated earlier in Sariska, the first was a male tiger. It was airlifted from Ranthambore in June 2008, followed by two tigresses from the same national park located in Sawai Madhopur district.
Sources in the forest department said the DNA test of the two big cats would be conducted before they are shifted to Sariska, located in Alwar district.
The tiger relocated earlier had failed to impregnate the two tigresses, an official said, adding, “We want everything to go right this time.”
“The tiger has already mated with the tigresses but there is not the slightest indication of pregnancy in Sariska,” said a wildlife official.
Experts fear that the male and two females relocated last year share the same father, which won’t exactly make for a diverse gene pool.
A DNA test before the relocation can help prevent this, experts said.
The Sariska tiger reserve, situated over 110 km from here, used to be one of India’s most famous tiger sanctuaries and was at the centre of the Project Tiger conservation programme.
Originally a hunting preserve of the erstwhile Alwar state, Sariska was declared a wildlife reserve in 1955. In 1978 it was declared a tiger reserve. The present area of the park is 866 sq km.
The state government a few years ago faced criticism from political and other quarters on the disappearance of tigers from Sariska.
A Wildlife Institute of India report in 2005 confirmed that there were indeed no tigers left in Sariska.
Poaching was found to be the main reason for the dwindling tiger population.
The state government had submitted a detailed project to the central government for the rehabilitation of tigers in the reserve. Finally the project was sanctioned in November 2005.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Jairam saga: Roaring in China, sleeping in India
While the tiger will most likely not go extinct in the next half-century, its current trajectory is catastrophic. A combination of poor governance, bureaucratic sloth and lack of leadership is leading us towards an ecological disaster, argues wildlife activist Shehla Masood.
Union Minster for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh [ Images ] roared in Beijing [ Images ] to support Chinese companies like Huawei. I wish he had shown even a hundredth of that zeal to save tigers back home. Ramesh should have addressed the issue; he is given the responsibility to do so by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [ Images ]. He loved to do everything else except this.
I got the shock of my life what I recently went to his ministry as a wildlife activist working for tiger conservation through public awareness and collecting information through the Right to Information Act.
I always thought India would be proud of this minister and the prime minister -- both above board, sincere and cool. And what else can be the test except the attitude leaders shows towards those who can't speak or send applications to South Block yet suffer immeasurably at the hands of humans.
The sense of fairness we find so dearest when it comes to humans should be extended to all living creatures. The prime minister showed interest to help animals and committed himself to help tiger conservation vigorously. We were happy. Till we got to the bottom of the truth. His men and office have done nothing and will hardly do anything except showing extraordinary interest in Huawei or the Indian Premier League
The story of our struggle and the prime minister's lethargic attitude coupled with a strange work culture in Ramesh's office has disillusioned hundreds of workers like us.
When I refer to the animals I mean those who are tortured and poached by humans. There is a national-level committee, a high-powered body, to take care of this aspect and it was considered so important and Constitutionally significant that the government thought it befitting to have it headed by the country's chief executive officer -- the prime minister.
It is called the National Board for Wildlife. The prime minister is the chairman. It has 45 members, including Ramesh. There are 15 non-official members. Four of the non-official members are also part of the NBWL's 12-member standing committee. It is an apex policy making and monitoring board which has statutory status.
Its mandate to ensure the safety and protection of India's wildlife and to effect changes. Since it is headed by the one who is responsible to lead the country's governance, it is but natural to expect that this kind of a government agency would be working brilliantly under the eyes and supervision of the paraphernalia the country's public provides to the prime minister making its decisions effective and precise. But that has not happened.
The paradigm of conservation has drastically changed from pre-Independence to date. The reasons for tiger deaths in the country are beginning to show. Their presence is something majestic and powerful, but who cares?
Concerned over the increasing incidents of unnatural deaths of tigers in various reserves in the country, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh decided to personally take up the matter with the concerned state governments. He chaired the NBWL's 5th meeting on March 18.
A proposal for a separate lion conservation project and the idea of a separate cadre for wildlife veterinary officers, among other topics, were discussed. Among others, Indian Council for Cultural Relations President Karan Singh and T K A Nair, the principal secretary to the prime minister, attended the meeting. The meeting discussed population control of spotted deer, delisting of corals from schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and the accidental deaths of wild elephants when they are hit by trains passing through national parks and sanctuaries.
The meeting was also due to consider convening of a park managers' congress, instituting awards for the best managed protected areas and restriction of central funding to protected areas directly under the wildlife wing and managed by trained officers.
It is shockingly sad to know, the information I received through RTI that in the last seven years the NBWL has met only five times. It is more shocking that till now no records -- minutes they call it -- of the deliberations held in all such meetings have been properly prepared and authenticated.
That means so far whatever was deliberated at the last five meetings has not been even put in the files as approved and done. The follow-up can begin only when the records of the last meetings have been approved. Nothing has been done so far. The board has 15 independent members who say that a sub-committee formed to look into the issue of tiger conservation has not actually been formed.
The NBWL is failing the nation as the minutes of meetings are being erroneously recorded awaiting official approval. This is confirmed by the principal information officer in his response to my letter. The prime minister has agreed to lend weight of his office for monitoring state governments, but to what avail and effectiveness?
What we are seeing is a species slipping through our fingers because of insensitiveness and carelessness of our bureaucrats. Their attitude is appalling and tragic.
India only has 1,000 tigers left, despite strenuous efforts to protect an animal that in the country is a symbol of national pride. More than 100,000 tigers prowled India's forests 100 years ago, but decades of hunting and habitat encroachment meant that by the 1970s the number had been drastically reduced.
India has failed miserably in protecting tigers in the wild. The animal that is a symbol for many cultures and religions is on the verge of extinction.
When I wanted to inspect the files pertaining the last meetings, the government officers refused and put me under great stress. It was after a lot of hurdles that I could come to see the officers at the ministry of environment in New Delhi [ Images ]. It is not as easy for the common citizen who lives at a distance from the national capital to come to the political centre of the nation and find his or her way to the great jungle of babudom. When I reached Paryavaran Bhawan, where the ministry is situated, many interesting experiences awaited me.
I found staff in the central ministry haywire, some gossiping, some sleeping on their tables, right in the middle of the office, with legs stretched. Some were smoking in the office.
I waited for 40 minutes as the principal information officer (deputy inspector general, wildlife) was not reachable. His phone kept ringing as the number dialed by the receptionist was not updated. The information on the public information officers was not mentioned/written as directed under the RTI Act.
When I finally traced and met the DIG, I requested him for more details. He was shocked at my disclosures about his staff, felt hesitant to share information, but at my unrelenting reference to the RTI Act he gave up and promised to allow me inspection of files containing NBWL deliberations meetings at a later appointment. But this too, which should have been a smooth procedure, could happen after I gave him a short lesson on the RTI and urged sincerity towards his job.
There are 37 project tiger reserves in the country and 663 protected areas. But what purpose are they serving?
Despite 20 years of international conservation efforts, the ground has been lost to save the tiger because of the government's inattentive attitude. All sub-species of tigers are declared critically endangered species by wildlife organisations and the United Nations.
Of the eight original sub-species of tigers, three have become extinct in the last 60 years, an average of one every 20 years. The Bali tiger became extinct in the 1930s. The Caspian tiger was forced into extinction in the 1970s. And the Javan tiger followed in the 1980s.
The number of tigers in the 1900s -- over 100,000 -- dropped to 4,000 in the 1970s. Today, they are a critically endangered species with the total of all the wild populations of the five remaining subspecies (Bengal tigers, Indo-Chinese tigers, Siberian tigers, South China tigers, and Sumatran tigers) to be roughly estimated anything between 4,600 and 7,700.
The statistics are fudged, the information is falsely recorded, inquiries are withheld and culprit officers are promoted (the Panna reservation case -- out of 40 tigers six years before, we have none today).
Just a lot of rhetoric and no action. With this kind of governance, which extends to all parties and shades, can we hope to conserve even the last of the tigers?
According to the Wildlife Protection Act, the maximum sentence for poaching is seven years imprisonment along with a fine. I have not come across any case where the accused has been given the maximum sentence. We have a miserable system. There is no governance to speak of. Bureaucratic indifference is the norm.
Poachers have emptied two of India's 37 protected tiger reserves. In India, isolated populations now occupy just seven per cent of the territory they enjoyed a century ago as a result of inadequately implementing conservation policies and mismanaging funds. While the tiger as a wild species will most likely not go extinct within the next half-century, its current trajectory is catastrophic.
If this trend continues, the current range will shrink even further, and wild populations will disappear from many more places, or dwindle to the point of ecological extinction. None other than due to a combination of increased poaching, habitat destruction, the attitude of the babus and poor conservation efforts by governments.
I will make sure Madhya Pradesh remains a tiger state.
I got the shock of my life what I recently went to his ministry as a wildlife activist working for tiger conservation through public awareness and collecting information through the Right to Information Act.
I always thought India would be proud of this minister and the prime minister -- both above board, sincere and cool. And what else can be the test except the attitude leaders shows towards those who can't speak or send applications to South Block yet suffer immeasurably at the hands of humans.
The sense of fairness we find so dearest when it comes to humans should be extended to all living creatures. The prime minister showed interest to help animals and committed himself to help tiger conservation vigorously. We were happy. Till we got to the bottom of the truth. His men and office have done nothing and will hardly do anything except showing extraordinary interest in Huawei or the Indian Premier League
The story of our struggle and the prime minister's lethargic attitude coupled with a strange work culture in Ramesh's office has disillusioned hundreds of workers like us.
When I refer to the animals I mean those who are tortured and poached by humans. There is a national-level committee, a high-powered body, to take care of this aspect and it was considered so important and Constitutionally significant that the government thought it befitting to have it headed by the country's chief executive officer -- the prime minister.
It is called the National Board for Wildlife. The prime minister is the chairman. It has 45 members, including Ramesh. There are 15 non-official members. Four of the non-official members are also part of the NBWL's 12-member standing committee. It is an apex policy making and monitoring board which has statutory status.
Its mandate to ensure the safety and protection of India's wildlife and to effect changes. Since it is headed by the one who is responsible to lead the country's governance, it is but natural to expect that this kind of a government agency would be working brilliantly under the eyes and supervision of the paraphernalia the country's public provides to the prime minister making its decisions effective and precise. But that has not happened.
The paradigm of conservation has drastically changed from pre-Independence to date. The reasons for tiger deaths in the country are beginning to show. Their presence is something majestic and powerful, but who cares?
Concerned over the increasing incidents of unnatural deaths of tigers in various reserves in the country, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh decided to personally take up the matter with the concerned state governments. He chaired the NBWL's 5th meeting on March 18.
A proposal for a separate lion conservation project and the idea of a separate cadre for wildlife veterinary officers, among other topics, were discussed. Among others, Indian Council for Cultural Relations President Karan Singh and T K A Nair, the principal secretary to the prime minister, attended the meeting. The meeting discussed population control of spotted deer, delisting of corals from schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and the accidental deaths of wild elephants when they are hit by trains passing through national parks and sanctuaries.
The meeting was also due to consider convening of a park managers' congress, instituting awards for the best managed protected areas and restriction of central funding to protected areas directly under the wildlife wing and managed by trained officers.
It is shockingly sad to know, the information I received through RTI that in the last seven years the NBWL has met only five times. It is more shocking that till now no records -- minutes they call it -- of the deliberations held in all such meetings have been properly prepared and authenticated.
That means so far whatever was deliberated at the last five meetings has not been even put in the files as approved and done. The follow-up can begin only when the records of the last meetings have been approved. Nothing has been done so far. The board has 15 independent members who say that a sub-committee formed to look into the issue of tiger conservation has not actually been formed.
The NBWL is failing the nation as the minutes of meetings are being erroneously recorded awaiting official approval. This is confirmed by the principal information officer in his response to my letter. The prime minister has agreed to lend weight of his office for monitoring state governments, but to what avail and effectiveness?
What we are seeing is a species slipping through our fingers because of insensitiveness and carelessness of our bureaucrats. Their attitude is appalling and tragic.
India only has 1,000 tigers left, despite strenuous efforts to protect an animal that in the country is a symbol of national pride. More than 100,000 tigers prowled India's forests 100 years ago, but decades of hunting and habitat encroachment meant that by the 1970s the number had been drastically reduced.
India has failed miserably in protecting tigers in the wild. The animal that is a symbol for many cultures and religions is on the verge of extinction.
When I wanted to inspect the files pertaining the last meetings, the government officers refused and put me under great stress. It was after a lot of hurdles that I could come to see the officers at the ministry of environment in New Delhi [ Images ]. It is not as easy for the common citizen who lives at a distance from the national capital to come to the political centre of the nation and find his or her way to the great jungle of babudom. When I reached Paryavaran Bhawan, where the ministry is situated, many interesting experiences awaited me.
I found staff in the central ministry haywire, some gossiping, some sleeping on their tables, right in the middle of the office, with legs stretched. Some were smoking in the office.
I waited for 40 minutes as the principal information officer (deputy inspector general, wildlife) was not reachable. His phone kept ringing as the number dialed by the receptionist was not updated. The information on the public information officers was not mentioned/written as directed under the RTI Act.
When I finally traced and met the DIG, I requested him for more details. He was shocked at my disclosures about his staff, felt hesitant to share information, but at my unrelenting reference to the RTI Act he gave up and promised to allow me inspection of files containing NBWL deliberations meetings at a later appointment. But this too, which should have been a smooth procedure, could happen after I gave him a short lesson on the RTI and urged sincerity towards his job.
There are 37 project tiger reserves in the country and 663 protected areas. But what purpose are they serving?
Despite 20 years of international conservation efforts, the ground has been lost to save the tiger because of the government's inattentive attitude. All sub-species of tigers are declared critically endangered species by wildlife organisations and the United Nations.
Of the eight original sub-species of tigers, three have become extinct in the last 60 years, an average of one every 20 years. The Bali tiger became extinct in the 1930s. The Caspian tiger was forced into extinction in the 1970s. And the Javan tiger followed in the 1980s.
The number of tigers in the 1900s -- over 100,000 -- dropped to 4,000 in the 1970s. Today, they are a critically endangered species with the total of all the wild populations of the five remaining subspecies (Bengal tigers, Indo-Chinese tigers, Siberian tigers, South China tigers, and Sumatran tigers) to be roughly estimated anything between 4,600 and 7,700.
The statistics are fudged, the information is falsely recorded, inquiries are withheld and culprit officers are promoted (the Panna reservation case -- out of 40 tigers six years before, we have none today).
Just a lot of rhetoric and no action. With this kind of governance, which extends to all parties and shades, can we hope to conserve even the last of the tigers?
According to the Wildlife Protection Act, the maximum sentence for poaching is seven years imprisonment along with a fine. I have not come across any case where the accused has been given the maximum sentence. We have a miserable system. There is no governance to speak of. Bureaucratic indifference is the norm.
Poachers have emptied two of India's 37 protected tiger reserves. In India, isolated populations now occupy just seven per cent of the territory they enjoyed a century ago as a result of inadequately implementing conservation policies and mismanaging funds. While the tiger as a wild species will most likely not go extinct within the next half-century, its current trajectory is catastrophic.
If this trend continues, the current range will shrink even further, and wild populations will disappear from many more places, or dwindle to the point of ecological extinction. None other than due to a combination of increased poaching, habitat destruction, the attitude of the babus and poor conservation efforts by governments.
I will make sure Madhya Pradesh remains a tiger state.
Are tigers safe in Kaziranga?
Kaziranga World Heritage site may be one of the successful rhino conservation stories and has the highest density of tigers in the country today but there seems to be enough reason to raise an alarm with poachers residing just outside the Park and unabated mining activity blocking animal corridors.
Recently Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh spoke about tiger conservation.
"Kaziranga was never associated with tigers till December 2007 when it was declared it as a Project Tiger Area. The numbers that seem to come from camera trap seems to suggest tiger population of anywhere between 75-100 in a total area of about 860 sq kms which is probably the highest density per sq kms in the country," said Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh.
Ramesh added: "Kaziranga now claims to have the highest density of tigers in the country which is good as well bad news. It makes the Park very vulnerable with an already existing poaching network."
Fourteen rhinos have been killed in this Park in the last one year.
"It's too simplistic to say that they will go for one particular animal and not touch tigers. Last year we lost 10 tigers and this year we have lost 2," said Dr Rajesh Gopal Member Secretary, NTCA.
Animals particularly the rhino often stray from the Kaziranga National Park cross these channels of the Brahmaputra and come on the embankment but what's worrying is the significant number of poachers and country made weapons that are present in these villages.
"In many areas there is a determined effort to finish off the tiger population. It is not coincidental, it's not an accident, there is a deliberate conspiracy, there is a conjoining of real estate mafia, mining mafia," said Jairam.
Such is the state of affairs, at the Panbari reserve forest adjoining the Kaziranga and an important animal corridor, there are 123 stone quarries on this fringe and some of them have been given license by the Kaziranga Park authorities.
Kaziranga has a unique eco system and the tiger may be much safer here but with the park situated right on the international smuggling route, the pressure on wildlife will always be there.
Recently Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh spoke about tiger conservation.
"Kaziranga was never associated with tigers till December 2007 when it was declared it as a Project Tiger Area. The numbers that seem to come from camera trap seems to suggest tiger population of anywhere between 75-100 in a total area of about 860 sq kms which is probably the highest density per sq kms in the country," said Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh.
Ramesh added: "Kaziranga now claims to have the highest density of tigers in the country which is good as well bad news. It makes the Park very vulnerable with an already existing poaching network."
Fourteen rhinos have been killed in this Park in the last one year.
"It's too simplistic to say that they will go for one particular animal and not touch tigers. Last year we lost 10 tigers and this year we have lost 2," said Dr Rajesh Gopal Member Secretary, NTCA.
Animals particularly the rhino often stray from the Kaziranga National Park cross these channels of the Brahmaputra and come on the embankment but what's worrying is the significant number of poachers and country made weapons that are present in these villages.
"In many areas there is a determined effort to finish off the tiger population. It is not coincidental, it's not an accident, there is a deliberate conspiracy, there is a conjoining of real estate mafia, mining mafia," said Jairam.
Such is the state of affairs, at the Panbari reserve forest adjoining the Kaziranga and an important animal corridor, there are 123 stone quarries on this fringe and some of them have been given license by the Kaziranga Park authorities.
Kaziranga has a unique eco system and the tiger may be much safer here but with the park situated right on the international smuggling route, the pressure on wildlife will always be there.
Tiger deaths: Under-staffing, poor intelligence main reasons
New Delhi: Lack of funds and quality staff, sloppy intelligence, poorly-armed protection force and delay in relocating villagers from tiger habitats were among the key reasons for big cat deaths, a Parliamentary panel has said.
The committee on 'conservation and protection of tigers' flayed the National Tiger Conservation Authority for its failure to ensure sufficient funds and staff to check the declining big cat population.
Asking it to plug the gaps, the panel, which tabled its report in Parliament today, has also suggested that the NTCA -- entrusted with the task of implementing Project Tiger in the country -- should speed up village relocation on priority basis to save the animals.
"The implementation of the Project Tiger under NTCA was severely hampered by under-staffing at the level of sanctuaries and the personnel actually employed were also found to be over-aged, under-trained and under-equipped in many cases," said the panel headed by BJP MP Gopinath Munde.
Inadequate arms and ammunition, lack of strike force, poor intelligence gathering and inadequate patrolling camps were some of the other reasons for tiger deaths, it said. "As a result, poaching of tigers continued and touched an annual level of 22 over a period of six years," it said.
Initiated in 1972, Project Tiger has been taking several steps to ensure tiger conservation and protection. The NTCA is an autonomous body under the Environment Ministry.
The panel also took serious exception to fact that the relocation of families in tiger reserves was going on at a snail's pace and "at this rate it will take more than a decade to relocate all the families from the core/buffer area."
Attributing the delay to funds shortage, it noted that "Against the requirement of Rs 11,000 crore to relocate 64,951 families living within the tiger reserves, the allocation in the Tenth Five Year Plan was a meagre Rs 10.50 crore."
In its reply, the Environment Ministry told the panel that since inception of Project Tiger till June 2005, a total of 80 villages (2904 families) have been relocated.
"During the Tenth Plan, under the enhanced package (Rs 10 lakh to each family) Rs 236.79 crore was provided to states for 7782 families' relocation." Pointing out that mitigation of human interference was important for tiger survival, the panel suggested that the Environment Ministry should undertake a special donor-driven project and "link this to the benefits which will accrue to the community by not cutting trees."
The committee also expressed its reservation over the authorities' failure to conduct annual census in most of the tiger reserves. It said the figures were not up-to-date and hoped that the adoption of new methodology for the ongoing survey would make it reliable and accurate.
Taking a cue from tiger farming in countries like China and the UK, the panel has asked the NTCA to explore similar options by launching a national tiger breeding programme and reintroducing the tigers in designated habitats.
The committee on 'conservation and protection of tigers' flayed the National Tiger Conservation Authority for its failure to ensure sufficient funds and staff to check the declining big cat population.
Asking it to plug the gaps, the panel, which tabled its report in Parliament today, has also suggested that the NTCA -- entrusted with the task of implementing Project Tiger in the country -- should speed up village relocation on priority basis to save the animals.
"The implementation of the Project Tiger under NTCA was severely hampered by under-staffing at the level of sanctuaries and the personnel actually employed were also found to be over-aged, under-trained and under-equipped in many cases," said the panel headed by BJP MP Gopinath Munde.
Inadequate arms and ammunition, lack of strike force, poor intelligence gathering and inadequate patrolling camps were some of the other reasons for tiger deaths, it said. "As a result, poaching of tigers continued and touched an annual level of 22 over a period of six years," it said.
Initiated in 1972, Project Tiger has been taking several steps to ensure tiger conservation and protection. The NTCA is an autonomous body under the Environment Ministry.
The panel also took serious exception to fact that the relocation of families in tiger reserves was going on at a snail's pace and "at this rate it will take more than a decade to relocate all the families from the core/buffer area."
Attributing the delay to funds shortage, it noted that "Against the requirement of Rs 11,000 crore to relocate 64,951 families living within the tiger reserves, the allocation in the Tenth Five Year Plan was a meagre Rs 10.50 crore."
In its reply, the Environment Ministry told the panel that since inception of Project Tiger till June 2005, a total of 80 villages (2904 families) have been relocated.
"During the Tenth Plan, under the enhanced package (Rs 10 lakh to each family) Rs 236.79 crore was provided to states for 7782 families' relocation." Pointing out that mitigation of human interference was important for tiger survival, the panel suggested that the Environment Ministry should undertake a special donor-driven project and "link this to the benefits which will accrue to the community by not cutting trees."
The committee also expressed its reservation over the authorities' failure to conduct annual census in most of the tiger reserves. It said the figures were not up-to-date and hoped that the adoption of new methodology for the ongoing survey would make it reliable and accurate.
Taking a cue from tiger farming in countries like China and the UK, the panel has asked the NTCA to explore similar options by launching a national tiger breeding programme and reintroducing the tigers in designated habitats.
Project tiger gets Rs 150 crore grant
Here's some good news for Vidarbha's two tiger reserves -Melghat and Tadoba! The Union government has decided to release Rs 150-crore grant to relocate villages in the tiger reserves. The state government had sought the assistance to free animals from human interference.
The grant would enable the state's wildlife wing to relocate 16 villages of Melghat and five villages of Tadoba.
Maharashtra Forest Minister, Patangrao Kadam told Hindustantimes Times that the issue was placed before the union minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh during his recent Vidarbha visit and finally the ministry nodded in approval.
The Centre's compensatory financial package is being doled out as a part of its strategy to encourage villagers to move out from the villages located in the tiger reserves, thus making them safe for predators besides other species. As per the financial package, the villagers are either provided Rs 10 lakh per family or a piece of land for their rehabilitation, a process being overseen by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) heading the Tiger Project.
The wildlife wing could relocate Botezhari village from Tadoba recently. However, it could not relocate Kolsa village because of paucity of funds. "If the department succeeds to relocate these villages from the tiger reserves, both the famous tiger projects would be free from human inhabitation," says Dr Nand Kishore, the chief conservator of forests (Wildlife)-Vidarbha region.
The efforts would also boost the wildlife protection and conservation in both the famous tiger reserves in the region. The human habitation within in the parks often causes poaching and poisoning of waterholes, leading to killing of tigers and other animals. One tiger was killed in core area of Tadoba in May last year with the help of villagers within the park.
According to Kadam, the Centre has decided to release Rs 100-crore immediately and the process for releasing the balance is in progress. The state had also made a provision of Rs 25.79-crore in this annual budget for the rehabilitation of villages within the Sahyadri Tiger project in western Maharashtra. Sahyadri was declared as tiger project last year.
Project tiger reserves in the state
* There are four tiger projects in the state--- Melghat, Tadoba, Pench (all in Vidarbha) and Sahyadri (Western Maharashtra).
* The Melghat, the oldest tiger project in the state, is located on southern offshoot of Satpura Hill Range in Amravati district with an area of 1676.49 sq kms. It is the home of around 45 tigers.
* Tadoba (Chandrapur district) is spread over 623 sq kms of high hills and lush valleys and under dense teak and bamboo forests. The reserve is also a home for rare wildlife, like wild dogs, leopards, and sloth bear, and baison, hyena and jungle cats, along with a population of around 46 tigers.
* In Pench tiger reserves, bordering Madhya Pradesh, is located at a distance of 70 kms from Nagpur and home for around 20 tigers.
* Sahyadri, the new tiger project of the state was set up by including Chandoli Natonal Park and Koyana Wildlife Sanctuary of western Maharashtra. The reserves spread over an area of 741.22 sq kms. It houses an appreciable variety of bird and animal life, including nine tigers and 66 leopards.
The grant would enable the state's wildlife wing to relocate 16 villages of Melghat and five villages of Tadoba.
Maharashtra Forest Minister, Patangrao Kadam told Hindustantimes Times that the issue was placed before the union minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh during his recent Vidarbha visit and finally the ministry nodded in approval.
The Centre's compensatory financial package is being doled out as a part of its strategy to encourage villagers to move out from the villages located in the tiger reserves, thus making them safe for predators besides other species. As per the financial package, the villagers are either provided Rs 10 lakh per family or a piece of land for their rehabilitation, a process being overseen by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) heading the Tiger Project.
The wildlife wing could relocate Botezhari village from Tadoba recently. However, it could not relocate Kolsa village because of paucity of funds. "If the department succeeds to relocate these villages from the tiger reserves, both the famous tiger projects would be free from human inhabitation," says Dr Nand Kishore, the chief conservator of forests (Wildlife)-Vidarbha region.
The efforts would also boost the wildlife protection and conservation in both the famous tiger reserves in the region. The human habitation within in the parks often causes poaching and poisoning of waterholes, leading to killing of tigers and other animals. One tiger was killed in core area of Tadoba in May last year with the help of villagers within the park.
According to Kadam, the Centre has decided to release Rs 100-crore immediately and the process for releasing the balance is in progress. The state had also made a provision of Rs 25.79-crore in this annual budget for the rehabilitation of villages within the Sahyadri Tiger project in western Maharashtra. Sahyadri was declared as tiger project last year.
Project tiger reserves in the state
* There are four tiger projects in the state--- Melghat, Tadoba, Pench (all in Vidarbha) and Sahyadri (Western Maharashtra).
* The Melghat, the oldest tiger project in the state, is located on southern offshoot of Satpura Hill Range in Amravati district with an area of 1676.49 sq kms. It is the home of around 45 tigers.
* Tadoba (Chandrapur district) is spread over 623 sq kms of high hills and lush valleys and under dense teak and bamboo forests. The reserve is also a home for rare wildlife, like wild dogs, leopards, and sloth bear, and baison, hyena and jungle cats, along with a population of around 46 tigers.
* In Pench tiger reserves, bordering Madhya Pradesh, is located at a distance of 70 kms from Nagpur and home for around 20 tigers.
* Sahyadri, the new tiger project of the state was set up by including Chandoli Natonal Park and Koyana Wildlife Sanctuary of western Maharashtra. The reserves spread over an area of 741.22 sq kms. It houses an appreciable variety of bird and animal life, including nine tigers and 66 leopards.
No plan to ban tourism in tiger reserves: Ramesh
NEW DELHI: Countering claims from the tourism lobby, the environment ministry clarified that there was no proposal to ban tourism in tiger reserves but warned that tourism would be strictly regulated in the tiger parks.
Environment minister Jairam Ramesh said, "The ministry of environment and forests believes that tourism is essential and that revenue from tourism must flow back directly into the management of each of the tiger reserves so that local communities can benefit."
But reiterating the long-standing criticism of the way tourism has operated in the tiger havens of India, Ramesh added, "The advantages of tourism should be felt by these local communities who should be encouraged to develop a stake in the protection of these tiger reserves. This policy of ploughing back is already in place in most reserves and it will be in place in all `Project Tiger' reserves very soon."
The tourism lobby has been opposing any move to charge or tax hotels and operations in vicinity of tiger parks to help provide local livelihoods and opportunities to the poor impacted by creation of the reserves besides being used for the upkeep of the tiger habitat. A recommendation to the effect by the Tiger Task Force has been long pending with the tourism and environment ministries locked in a turf battle.
The environment ministry and the National Tiger Conservation Authority are also hard pressed to tackle the political fallout of allowing high revenue tourism in the core of tiger reserves while tribals and forest dwellers have been asked to relocate.
The PM had written to several chief ministers recently asking for regulation of unfettered tourism on the periphery of tiger reserves such as the high profile Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand.
Environment minister Jairam Ramesh said, "The ministry of environment and forests believes that tourism is essential and that revenue from tourism must flow back directly into the management of each of the tiger reserves so that local communities can benefit."
But reiterating the long-standing criticism of the way tourism has operated in the tiger havens of India, Ramesh added, "The advantages of tourism should be felt by these local communities who should be encouraged to develop a stake in the protection of these tiger reserves. This policy of ploughing back is already in place in most reserves and it will be in place in all `Project Tiger' reserves very soon."
The tourism lobby has been opposing any move to charge or tax hotels and operations in vicinity of tiger parks to help provide local livelihoods and opportunities to the poor impacted by creation of the reserves besides being used for the upkeep of the tiger habitat. A recommendation to the effect by the Tiger Task Force has been long pending with the tourism and environment ministries locked in a turf battle.
The environment ministry and the National Tiger Conservation Authority are also hard pressed to tackle the political fallout of allowing high revenue tourism in the core of tiger reserves while tribals and forest dwellers have been asked to relocate.
The PM had written to several chief ministers recently asking for regulation of unfettered tourism on the periphery of tiger reserves such as the high profile Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand.
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