TIGER TASK FORCE REPORT JOINING THE DOTS ■socio-economic research that has been conducted;b. Their process <strong>of</strong> updation must include open discussions with <strong>the</strong> local communities,local NGOs and researchers;c. The proposed reserve-level management committees must be asked to scrutinise <strong>the</strong>details <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se plans;d. The plans must be put in <strong>the</strong> public domain and be used for <strong>the</strong> independentevaluation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> reserve.The Project <strong>Tiger</strong> directorate must work with chief wildlife wardens and all field directorsto set up and implement this process.5. The independent audit <strong>of</strong> each tiger reserve is potentially a vital tool for decisionmaking. This audit can to be used to create a reputational advantage for <strong>the</strong> reserve. Inorder to do this, <strong>the</strong> <strong>Task</strong> <strong>Force</strong> would recommend:a. Project <strong>Tiger</strong> directorate should work to fur<strong>the</strong>r improve its criterion and indicatorsfor <strong>the</strong> rating. The criterion must be done to benchmark <strong>the</strong> progress and problems inall critical areas and set targets for its improvement.b. The rating should <strong>the</strong>n be used for management decisions and for creating aninformed and involved public opinion on <strong>the</strong> working <strong>of</strong> individual reserves.c. It must be used to inform Parliament <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> progress being made in tiger conservationand <strong>the</strong> challenges ahead.But this will only be possible if <strong>the</strong> process has credibility and independence. To do this,<strong>the</strong> findings <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> independent audit must be put in <strong>the</strong> public domain. The peers andcritics are <strong>the</strong> best auditors and insurers <strong>of</strong> quality.6. The <strong>Tiger</strong> <strong>Task</strong> <strong>Force</strong> strongly feels that <strong>the</strong> most serious lacuna in <strong>the</strong> existingapproach to managing information on tigers has been a lack <strong>of</strong> openness and willingnessto take everybody along. The inclusive, open approach that <strong>the</strong> <strong>Task</strong> <strong>Force</strong> advocatesdepends crucially on free access to all information for all people, except where veryevident security concerns are involved. In modern times, this would be best ensured byposting all such information on <strong>the</strong> Web, in English, as well as in all Indian languages.The way ahead 87
■ JOINING THE DOTS TIGER TASK FORCE REPORT3.7 The relocation agendaWildlife conservationists say it is necessary to createinviolate spaces for <strong>the</strong> tiger. They state that Indiamust be prepared to set aside this land — 37,761 sqkm <strong>of</strong> tiger reserves, which, <strong>the</strong>y say, is barely 1 percent <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> country’s land area — for this flagshipspecies to breed and roam in.This is clearly not unreasonable. After all, tigerreserves have been designated with this distinctpurpose in mind. When <strong>the</strong>y were created in <strong>the</strong>1970s, <strong>the</strong> international agency assisting <strong>the</strong>government had said that it was necessary for <strong>the</strong>tiger “to have large areas <strong>of</strong> at least 2,000 sq km withsimilar contiguous areas so that a viable population<strong>of</strong> about 300 tigers in each area could bemaintained”. The task force chaired by Karan Singh<strong>the</strong>n went on to investigate <strong>the</strong> feasibility <strong>of</strong> thisproposal, but found that it could not locate manyareas as large as 2,000 sq km, which could be‘reserved’ for tiger conservation. It, <strong>the</strong>refore,decided to adopt an approach in which smallerreserves would be created as model parks to preserve<strong>the</strong> tiger, while much more would be done to buildpublic opinion in favour <strong>of</strong> wildlife preservation andso secure larger areas for protection. 1Even when <strong>the</strong> first eight tiger reserves wereselected in different ecological systems, <strong>the</strong> taskforce noted that each reserve had existing humanpressure — <strong>of</strong> grazing, resource use and commercialfelling. It <strong>the</strong>n suggested a management plan thatwould involve restricting and minimising humanactivities within <strong>the</strong> reserves. The core <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> reservewould be designated a national park, with no humanactivity, while <strong>the</strong> buffer area could sustain people.The plan was that people would be relocatedfrom <strong>the</strong> core areas <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> tiger reserves, while <strong>the</strong>ywould continue to co-exist in <strong>the</strong> buffer areas. But<strong>the</strong> problem has been that while Project <strong>Tiger</strong> isbased on a management plan, using concepts <strong>of</strong> coreand buffer, <strong>the</strong> law does not have this provision.While <strong>the</strong> concept <strong>of</strong> core-buffer is deployed foradministrative purposes <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> reserve, <strong>the</strong> lawprovides for something else: two main categories <strong>of</strong>protected reserves — national parks and sanctuaries— and two categories <strong>of</strong> protected forests — reserveforests and protected forests.The tiger reserves in <strong>the</strong> country are a patchwork<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se existing legal land uses. In many cases,where <strong>the</strong>re were a large number <strong>of</strong> settlements,adjustments were made to exclude <strong>the</strong>se areas from<strong>the</strong> core and to keep <strong>the</strong> area under <strong>the</strong> category <strong>of</strong>ei<strong>the</strong>r a ‘sanctuary’ or a ‘reserve forest’. In fact, incertain cases, <strong>the</strong> core area <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> tiger reserve doesnot have <strong>the</strong> legal protection a forested space getswhen it receives ‘national park’ status. It remains asanctuary, but its administrators have to manage it asa completely protected zone.The problem is that while <strong>the</strong>re is an emphasison removing <strong>the</strong> biotic pressure that people bring to<strong>the</strong> tiger’s habitat in most cases, <strong>the</strong>re is littleempirical evidence <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> nature <strong>of</strong> this impact andwhat can be done to manage or mitigate it, before <strong>the</strong>option <strong>of</strong> relocation is considered. What isinteresting is that <strong>the</strong> architects <strong>of</strong> Project <strong>Tiger</strong> hadnoted, even <strong>the</strong>n, that <strong>the</strong> “information on <strong>the</strong> effects<strong>of</strong> villages and <strong>the</strong>ir occupants on surrounding areasis generally lacking”. In addition, it had pointed outthat <strong>the</strong> forest department considers that “poachingby villagers in <strong>the</strong> reserves is spasmodic and its effectis negligible. Villagers are undoubtedly a fire hazard,but <strong>the</strong>y are also available to assist in extinguishingserious fires”.But as villagers would impact <strong>the</strong> habitat overtime, that task force said it was desirable that smallpockets <strong>of</strong> forest villages should be shifted. In casethis was not possible, <strong>the</strong>n, at <strong>the</strong> very least, cattlethat are a menace to forests should be diverted toalternative sites. In case people were angry because<strong>the</strong>ir cattle were killed by tigers and were resortingto retaliatory poisoning, <strong>the</strong> task force said thatcompensation should be paid urgently.Since <strong>the</strong>n, more reserves have been created. Theprinciple followed is <strong>the</strong> same: absolute protectionfor <strong>the</strong> core and human activity geared towardsconservation in <strong>the</strong> buffer.But unfortunately, 30 years hence, this picture isfar from perfect. In fact, matters have become muchworse. People continue to live in <strong>the</strong> core as well as<strong>the</strong> buffer areas <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> reserves. There has beeninadequate work done to relocate settlements and, in<strong>the</strong> meantime, poverty and destitution has drivenmore people into <strong>the</strong> reserves. Authorities maintainthat according to <strong>the</strong> plan, <strong>the</strong>se people are notallowed to use forest resources, first in <strong>the</strong> core andnow even in <strong>the</strong> buffer areas. People live <strong>the</strong>re, so<strong>the</strong>y do use <strong>the</strong> resources; but this use is illegal. Theauthorities say that people should not be living in <strong>the</strong>reserves, as per <strong>the</strong> management plan for <strong>the</strong> reserve,which has demarcated areas as core and buffer, so<strong>the</strong>re is no question <strong>of</strong> providing developmentassistance or even compensation for cattle kills.There is escalating and deadly tension between <strong>the</strong>people and <strong>the</strong> park because <strong>of</strong> all this. At <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong>it, <strong>the</strong> tiger and <strong>the</strong> people are both losing.The issue, <strong>the</strong>n, is to review what has been done88 The way ahead