Report of the Tiger Task Force - PRS

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TIGER TASK FORCE REPORT JOINING THE DOTS ■Research1. Put in place institutional mechanisms that wouldstreamline existing procedures for clearance andcoordination of research and ensure betterutilisation of the research output. To do this,panels should be set up at the state and nationallevels, chaired by the inspector general of forests(wildlife) or chief wildlife wardens, and includingthe secretary of the National BiodiversityAuthority or the State Biodiversity Board andother experts in ecology, social sciences and biostatistics.These panels must serve as ‘singlewindow’ clearing houses for all matters relating towildlife research, so that they streamline currentprocedures, rather than create another layer ofdecision-making.2. The process of designing and implementing themanagement plans for each tiger reserve needs tobe reworked. The plans must be updatedregularly, taking into consideration the scientificand socio-economic research that has beenconducted; these plans should be put in thepublic domain and be used for the independentevaluation of the reserve.3. The independent audit must be used to create areputational advantage for the reserve.a. The Project Tiger directorate should work tofurther improve its criterion and indicatorsfor the rating. The criterion must bedeveloped to benchmark the progress andproblems in all critical areas and set targets forits improvement.b. The rating should then be used formanagement decisions and for creating aninformed and involved public opinion on theworking of individual reserves.c. It must be used to inform Parliament of theprogress being made in tiger conservation andthe challenges ahead.Relocation1 There should be an urgent and realistic review ofthe number of villages that actually need to berelocated from the reserves. The decision must bebased on the fact that the villages that need to berelocated are made to do so because they aresituated in the critical habitats — tiger natal areasand key conservation priority areas. There mustbe a criterion for the identification of thesevillages, so that it is clear which village is to berelocated and why.2. There must be a tight schedule of one year tostudy settlements and list the ones to be relocated.This schedule must be strictly complied with.3. Based on this list, the Project Tiger directorateshould draw up a time-bound action plan tocomplete the process of relocation. The actionplan for relocation must be completed in terms ofits financial and land provisions before it isfinalised and accepted.4. During the formulation of this action plan, theresponsible agency must keep in mind theexperience of past relocation efforts to ensure thatthe process of relocation does not lead to furtherresource degradation or loss of livelihood of people.5. The financial allocation for the relocation schememust be revised and enhanced so that it can takeinto account the needs, particularly, of providingirrigated land and other facilities to ensurelivelihood security.6. The scheme must take into account the options forlivelihood in the resettled village. It is importantfor planners to keep in view the fact that peoplewho live within the reserves are forest-dependentcommunities, and survive within agro-silvopastoraleconomies. The relocation package mustbe designed to provide viable alternatives.7. The classfication of land after the families arerelocated must be changed from forest to revenueland, which will allow the settlers advantages ofdevelopment and other facilities.8. Set up a task force at the Central level to monitorthe quality of relocation and to ensure that there iscareful coordination and follow-up in therelocation work.Action plan for change 149
■ JOINING THE DOTS TIGER TASK FORCE REPORTCoexistence1. People will continue to live in protected areas:policy must accept this. It is not possible to settlethe rights and relocate all the families living in thereserves. The facts are clear: in the last 30 years,less than 10 per cent of the families in tigerreserves have been relocated.2. If people live in protected areas, ways must befound to secure their use of resources andlivelihoods. The current legal framework does notaccount for the use of resources by communities,because people are not expected to be in thenational park at all, and in a limited way in thesanctuaries. The law provides that during thetime the rights are settled and people live inprotected areas, the state government has toprovide alternative sources of fuel, fodder andother forest produce. In short, the rights ofpeople cannot be expunged without providingalternatives.3. In this situation, the selective interpretation of theIndian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 whichcurtails the use of resources by people withouttaking into account the safeguards, has only led togreater unrest around our protected areas and hasbeen detrimental to conservation.4. Strategies for joint-collaborative-inclusivemanagement of our protected areas are thenessential, so that this “illegal” use is made legaland regulated.5. All use need not be destructive. The question ishow the use will be regulated or managed. Inorder for the resource use not to be destructive,the participation of local communities indecision-making and in management becomesessential. Regulation is best possible if all areparties to the decision.6. It is important that this approach of inclusiveprotection is incorporated into conservationmanagement urgently. For this, the followingmust be done:a. Each tiger reserve (to begin with) must takeinto account the current needs of people wholive within the reserve and evolve a plan forresource management and use. This strategymust be developed in consultation with localcommunities, researchers and local NGOs.b. The strategy must include plans for carefulmonitoring and evaluation.c. The Project Tiger directorate must haveinternal capacity and staff to be able tomonitor and guide this process carefully.Every effort must be made to encourageinnovation and experimentation.d. Begin this process immediately. The plans foreach reserve must be completed within oneyear and be available publicly.7. The independent monitoring of tiger reserves mustprovide a high weightage for the work done by parkmanagers in collaborative management. Theimprovement in relationship between people andparks must be a key criterion in the review. Eachtiger reserve must be rated for this work and thebest and worst identified for rewards and penalties.The fringe1. The tiger’s habitat cannot be secured unless wesecure the future of the millions who live on thefringe. Currently, there is little information aboutthe numbers or their impact on the reserves.Studies, preferably on a GIS-based platform,should be carried out to collect this information,which can be used for the reserve’s management.Place these studies and their results in the publicdomain along with all empirical data, so that otherinstitutions and researchers can then build on thisinformation. It should be a part of the work of theProject Tiger directorate to encourage andundertake research on people-wildlifeinteractions within and on the fringes of thereserves.2. Timely payment of compensation for livestockdeath and human injury and death, which falls inthe purview of the field directors, should be madeone of the criteria that the park management ismeasured for during the evaluation of the reservesand their ranking.3. Pay compensation for crop damage as well. Inaddition, compensation must be paid to familieswho continue to live within the reserves.4. The Tiger Task Force understands that thegovernment is currently working on the nextphase of an externally aided ecodevelopmentplan. It is important that all the issues listed in thereport regarding the opportunities and failures ofthe first phase of the ecodevelopment project arecarefully considered and incorporated into theplan. The country cannot afford such expensiveexperiments, unless they are carefully crafted andskillfully executed.5. The joint forest management programme in thevicinity of the reserves must be revamped so thatpeople living in the fringes can be givenmanagement decisions and rights over the150 Action plan for change
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THE REPORT OF THE TIGER TASK FORCEJ
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ContentsIntroductionExecutive summa
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