Is a complete ban on wildlife tourism in core areas
justified?
The hon'ble Supreme
Court in its order dated 24 July 2012 has put a stop on all tourism activities
in the core zones of the tiger reserves in India. The SC will hold the final
hearing in this case on 22 August 2012 wherein the final outcome of this case
will be clear. While in principle, we all agree that wildlife tourism in India
needs to be controlled and strictly regulated, placing a complete ban on any
kind of tourism activities in the core areas will certainly not help the
wildlife of the tiger reserves.
In May 2012, the
country was shocked by a series of killings of tigers outside the
Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra by poachers. The poachers chose to
trap the unfortunate tigers outside (or the so-called buffer zones) of the
tiger reserve. It must be noted here that Tadoba is yet another popular
wildlife tourism destination. The regular movement of tourists inside the
reserve obviously keeps the poachers away from these areas. When the tigers are
not safe in a popular tiger reserve like Tadoba, one can’t even imagine the
fate of tigers in the reserve forest areas and corridors that are good tiger
habitats but do not have the status of tiger reserve or national park or
wildlife sanctuary. As there is no attempt to estimate the tiger numbers in
such areas, the loss of tigers simply goes unnoticed. The NTCA should be
worried about these areas and take immediate steps to protect these tiger
populations.
Wildlife tourism in
India is a developing sector. Lakhs of tourists, from India and abroad, visit
the tiger reserves just to catch a glimpse of our national animal. Corbett
Tiger Reserve alone has over two lakh tourists annually. To cater to these
tourists, tourist infrastructure is developed around these tiger reserves. Thousands
of local and forest-dependent communities have been employed or have benefited
directly or indirectly due to wildlife tourism. The locals are employed as
nature guides, naturalists and resort staff, engaged as daily wage labourers,
plumbers, garage workers, drivers, safari vehicle owners, providers of
vegetables & poultry products, contractors, tribal artists, etc. The lives
of all these stake-holders have been strongly linked to and dependent on
wildlife tourism of the tiger reserves. A complete ban on tourism in core areas
will seriously affect the well being of these stake-holders. Antagonizing the
locals might spell a doom for the wildlife in the area. There are enough
examples of displaced or disgruntled people directly or indirectly responsible
for killing wildlife and destroying habitat out of vengeance. Since the last few weeks, Naxal movements have been seen in the buffer zone of Kanha Tiger Reserve around Mukki area. Most of the forest chowkies (posts) in these areas have been deserted by the forest department staff due to the fear of Naxalites! Having no tourist movement in the park will only help the Naxalites. Worse, there is
always the fear of more jobless people getting pulled in Naxalism in the Naxal-affected
regions.
The NTCA, through its
revised guidelines circulated in November 2011, recommends establishing tiger
safaris and other awareness infrastructure in the buffer zones of tiger
reserves. Till date several States like Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh,
Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Karnataka and Maharashtra
have failed to yet delineate core and buffer zones in tiger reserves. The
hon’ble Supreme Court expressed its displeasure over this and slapped a fine of
Rs.10,000 on each State for failing to respond to its previous notice within a
stipulated time period. If the NTCA is so much concerned about the core zones
or critical wildlife habitats, why did it not pressurize the tiger reserves to
notify such an important area?
In the last two
decades, the infrastructure for tourism has developed around the tiger reserves
on a large-scale. Hundreds of resorts have been permitted to construct and
operate their properties without any guidelines or restrictions; in some places
to the extent of blocking vital wildlife corridors. While this is of grave
concern, what was the MoEF doing all these years when this infrastructure was
being created and threats pointed out by experts in several forums in the past?
Which government department allowed this development? This privately owned tourist
infrastructure is developed outside the boundaries of the tiger reserves. But
what about the tourism infrastructure owned and operated by the forest
department inside the critical tiger habitat? Few notable examples being Dhikala
Tourism Complex inside Corbett Tiger Reserve, The ITDC Forest Lodge inside the
Keoladeo National Park at Bharatpur, MPTDC Bagheera Loghuts in Kanha Tiger
Reserve and the KTDC with Aranya Niwas and The Lake Palace inside Periyar Tiger
Reserve. A striking example is Jhirna Forest
Rest House in Corbett that has been converted into a canteen for tourists. The
canteen, the operation of which is outsourced by the forest department to a
private entity, serves snacks in non-biodegradable packaging, there are no sufficient
waste bins, and non-biodegradable trash is littered everywhere. One can see so
many rhesus macaques and common langurs feeding on these leftovers and at times
attacking tourists. The story is not much different in case of Kanha and
Bandhavgarh tiger reserves. Exercising strict rules is certainly in the hands
of the forest department but was never followed within the forests they
governed and managed despite several complaints by well meaning tourists and
conservationists.
The eco-tourism guidelines propose
to allow only 10-15% of the area of a PA for tourism. The guidelines also say
that ecotourism will only be conducted in buffer areas instead of in core
zones. As everyone knows, buffer areas in most PAs do not have a high density
of wild animals and therefore the possibility of sighting wildlife is less. The
WLPA permits grazing by cattle and collection of minor forest products in the
buffer zones of tiger reserves. One can see huge herds of domestic cattle in
buffer zones of many tiger reserves including the high profile Corbett, Kanha,
Bandhavgarh and Ranthambhor tiger reserves. If the buffer zones are to be developed
or utilised for tourism, does it have
any back up plan to ban or control cattle grazing in buffer zones as they
compete with herbivores for the same habitat?
There could be many more such
contradicting examples of lack of coordination, planning and proper management
of tiger reserves between various government departments in the interest of
wildlife conservation. The entire system has failed to enforce the existing
laws and ensure conservation of tigers and other flagship species and their critical
wildlife habitat.
Banning tourism in core areas is
certainly not a remedy to this mismanagement. Wildlife tourism cannot be
singled out and blamed for all this mess created by the system. Instead of this
blame game, the NTCA should engage in a serious dialogue with all concerned
stake-holders and come at a viable and sustainable solution to sort the issue. ‘Controlled
Wildlife Tourism’ is the key to this problem. Instead of a complete ban, wildlife
tourism in an extremely controlled form should be permitted in some parts of the
core areas. The infrastructure here should be bare minimum with no luxuries whatsoever
but with clean facilities. The power generation should be only solar or biomass
based, water should be harvested rainwater, strictly no use of polythene bags,
battery-operated vehicles for safaris with a controlled speed limit should be
used.
Certain areas of buffer zones
should be demarcated as wildlife tourism areas, where no cattle grazing and
other forms of human disturbances to be allowed. Only then the resident
wildlife will use these areas as habitat and the tourists will get the feel of
being in a forest that is as good as a core area. Setting up of wildlife
information / interpretation centres constructed on the principles of ‘green
buildings’ should be encouraged and designed in such a way that every tourist have
to visit these before entering the tiger reserves. Canteen facilities in the
buffer zones should be strictly given only to the Self Help Groups formed by
the local tribes and communities. NGOs should be involved in training these
SHGs to run these facilities. Nature trails, photography hides, watch towers
should be developed for providing good and educational wildlife experiences to
tourists. The concept of Home Stays
should be encouraged in the buffer zones.
- All resorts must take care of at least 40% of their energy requirements through non-renewable sources like solar energy and biomass-based energy.
- Harvesting of rainwater and ground water recharge should be made compulsory with restrictions on drawing of ground water for use in resorts.
- Strictly no form of loud music should be allowed in the resorts, except in sound-proof rooms.
- Composting of kitchen and organic waste should be compulsory for every resort. Inorganic and non-biodegradable waste to be disposed off at least 5 km away from the buffer zone of the tiger reserve. A system should be developed for collection and dumping of this waste with the involvement of local gram panchayats or municipalities at an identified location that could be an old abandoned quarry or any other wasteland.
Wildlife tourism is an important
tool that should be properly utilized for spreading awareness about tigers and
other wildlife species among the people of India and the world. Watching of
wildlife films on National geographic, Animal Planet and Discovery channels
cannot be a substitute for actually seeing a tiger in the wild. The experience of
sighting a tiger in its natural environment has changed many lives. Had many of
our wildlife researchers, conservationists, environmentalists, park managers
not seen a tiger in the wild or had no access to our tiger reserves, would they
have been the same persons they are today? The wildlife has to be experienced
to have a feeling for it. This passion and concern for wildlife cannot be obtained
or developed by just watching films, however good they are.
The whole world is looking
forward to the final judgement of the hon’ble Supreme Court of India on 22nd
August. This judgement will have far-reaching consequences on the future of
tigers and the tiger conservation movement of India. We can only hope that the judgement
proves to be a win-win situation for all.
The Corbett Foundation
01 August 2012
