The Vanishing Act - WWF-India

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V.V. Sundar / WWF-India Panda March 2005 “Billy” Arjan Singh 17th WWF Asia Pacific Sub-Committee Meeting The WWF network holds annual sub-committee meetings in each of the global regions to review progress, share information and discuss major programmes and priorities. This year the Asia Pacific meeting was held in Manesar in Haryana from 1 to 3 March 2005. The meeting was attended by fifty-two participants from twentyfour countries. Launching off from WWF’s latest Living Planet Report it took a close look at the two countries that are major players in this region—India and China. Both countries are predicted to make huge advances in their economy and development. It was therefore very important to see what kind of environmental impacts they will have both internally and on the region, (i.e. their environmental ‘footprint’) and what steps could be taken to ensure sustainable development and the effective use of natural resources. The meeting also looked at issues of climate change, forest resource use, fisheries, wildlife trade and human-wildlife conflict. Humanwildlife conflict has in recent years become a growing challenge to conservation and WWF India made a presentation on this issue based on the work being carried out in the Continued on page 3 2 of readers with his engaging first hand account of wildlife. Amidst rousing applause and standing ovation, ‘Billy’ Arjan Singh rose to deliver his acceptance speech. ‘Billy’ thanked WWF for conferring the award on him and quickly turned the spotlight, predictably, to highlight the gloomy future for tiger population elsewhere in the country. He remarked, ‘Tigers are safe only if, the forests are protected, conservation of wildlife is not possible unless all players join hands together.’ Drawing a parallel ‘Billy’ said, ‘Like UN is an organization protecting world peace and harmony, WWF is working towards conserving wildlife and maintaining the delicate ecological balance.’ He congratulated WWF for its leadership role in conservation efforts in the country. Mr P.K.Sen, Director,Tiger and Wildlife Programme,WWF-India reminiscing on his long association with ‘Billy’ Arjan Singh said, ‘He was a man who was never afraid of calling a spade a spade and remained true to his passion for wildlife conservation.’ He also expressed his gratitude to the residents of Dudhwa for attending the function in large numbers. K. Prasad, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (UP) said that the prestigious award was not only a great honour for the people of Uttar Pradesh but also for the whole country. He said ‘Billy’ will continue to have an immense influence on a whole generation. Pavan Kumar, Special Secretary Forests termed ‘Billy’ as a living legend and briefly chronicled various facets of his life. The forty-five minute long award ceremony was marked by an overflow of emotions. Friends, close associates and residents of Dudhwa came on to the stage and shared their personal anecdotes with the legendary figure and paid tribute to his undaunted spirit and devotion towards tiger conservation efforts. The event generated considerable media attention, with both local and national press and television channels devoting considerable space and time in covering the event. Hunter turned conservationist ‘Billy’ is considered the ‘godfather’ of the movement to save the Indian tiger. In more ways than one ‘Billy’ was way ahead of his times and his contemporaries. V.V.Sundar / vsundar@wwfindia.net ‘Billy’ Arjan Singh in WWF-India, Delhi In a quiet little ceremony on 4 March, ‘Billy’ Arjan Singh was feted for his outstanding work in tiger conservation. The ceremony was held in WWF’s Pirojsha Godrej auditorium which was packed with friends, admirers and fellow conservationists. The day before that ‘Billy’ was given a standing ovation by the participants at the Asia Pacific Sub-committee Meeting at Manesar (Haryana). ‘Billy’ gave a passionate speech. Always a spokesperson for the dumb creatures, he said conservation had to be a global cooperative effort. There was no point protecting the tiger here when there was a huge market for its bones and claws in China and for its skin in the western countries. The tiger belongs not just to us but the world. The tiger has to be saved not because of his beauty and power but because he is necessary for our own survival. Saving the tiger means saving his home, the forests, which are equally vital for human life to continue. Members from the audience spoke. Chris Hales, Programme Director of WWF-International said that ‘Billy’s’ message had simplicity and strength. Valmik Thapar said the ‘Billy’ Arjan Singh’s vision of conservation way back in the ‘60s still remains the blue print of how the Forest Department should be run. Divyabhanusinh Chavda hailed him as a beacon for all conservationists and for generations of conservationists to come. Nine policemen were also felicitated at the same ceremony (for their devotion to conservation a la police) for making large hauls in animal parts and skin. Assistant Commissioner of Police Mr Bhatnagar was presented with the WWF shield and received the certificates on behalf of the policemen. Sikha Ghosh / sghosh@wwfindia.net V.V. Sundar / WWF-India
The Vanishing Act Disappearing Tigers in India M an, the most destructive of all predators has driven three of the total eight subspecies of the tiger to extinction in the last sixty years. The Bali, Javan and Caspian sub-species have been lost forever. Tragically, the remaining five are also gravely threatened and run the risk of meeting the same fate in the near foreseeable future. According to official figures, India still holds about fifty-five per cent of the world’s tiger population. This fact, rather than being an asset is proving to be a liability. Most illegal traders of tiger parts now look at India as the richest repository for meeting their needs and their clandestine procurement machinery network is now widespread in our country. Our tiger rich areas have been under attack since the late 1980s and our enforcement machinery and political priorities have failed to decisively counter this threat. The first tiger crisis in India surfaced around the late 1960s. This was perhaps the only point of time in the tiger’s recent history in our country that poaching was not a major contributory factor to the crisis. Instead, loss of habitat along with over exploitation for ‘sport hunting’, were at that time identified as the main contributory factors. These were forcefully countered by the strong willed Prime Minister Indira Gandhi through the imposition of a complete ban on tiger hunting (1970), promulgation of the Wildlife (Protection) Act (1972) and the launch of Project Tiger (1973). The next decade or so saw development of Project Tiger into a strong programme that was hailed by the world as one of the most successful efforts ever. By 1983 the coverage of Project Tiger had been increased from the original nine Reserves (1973) to fifteen Reserves and tiger numbers in most of these areas were showing distinct increases. As long as Mrs Gandhi was in office, her personal commitment and interest overcame the tendency to dither by the states. A classic example was the creation of the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. Dudhwa, one of the finest tiger areas in the terai today came into being due to the imposition of Mrs Gandhi’s will on a reluctant Uttar Pradesh Government. No Prime Minister after her, besides her son Rajiv Gandhi, had shared her interest in wildlife. Unfortunately, by the time he became the Prime Minister, the Congress party had been considerably weakened because of which he lacked the political strength that had often enabled his mother to ‘steam-roll’ any political impediments that came in her way. However, it is a fact that even before the death of Mrs Gandhi in 1984, the Project had started degenerating to a numbers game. With the intention of pleasing Mrs Gandhi, wildlife managers started inflating numbers. This tendency became rampant after her death. With Mrs Gandhi gone, the driving force and the political backing Neel Gogate / WWF-India Panda March 2005 17th WWF Asia Pacific Sub-Committee Meeting Continued from page 2 North Bank Landscape. There was discussion on the need for a regional human-wildlife mitigation programme. Also discussed was the private sector which is now emerging as a new and important partner of WWF. A need was felt to increase awareness on the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Already much progress has been made in this area and WWF is working with the private sector in areas of tourism, power and fisheries. WWF’s post-tsunami issues were discussed and the countries involved in this (India, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia) gave an overview of the situation. There was discussion on how the network could support the efforts of these countries in terms of environmental and livelihood issues following the tsunami. The capacity needs of the WWF in the region, and new skills needed to work with the growing economies of the region were discussed as well. Conservation achievements, ‘big wins’, and plans on how to build on these to deliver more effectively were shared with all. After the three-day meeting participants visited Keoladeo National Park, Narora (where WWF India has an ongoing programme on dolphin conservation) and the Corbett Tiger Reserve which is also an area covered by WWF India’s Terai Arc Landscape Programme. Sikha Ghosh / sghosh@wwfindia.net 3
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The Vanishing Act - WWF-India

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