Protected Area Network in Orissa - Vasundhara

Summary of the major issues• Management deficiencies in conservation approach. The sanctuaries andNational Park do not have separate management plans and there is no detailedguideline available for the preparation of the plans. Every Protected Area hasits own situation specific problems which have to be tackled independentlyand hence independent management plans are required.• Lack of holistic approach in Wildlife Management. The present conservationparadigm is borrowed from the Western Concept which ignores theinvolvement of the local people, the primary stakeholders, in the managementprocess. Exclusionary principle of conservation sidelines the local people fromthe conservation scenario, further imposing the cost of conservation on theweakest section of the society who cannot afford it.• The Management system also neglects the potential of the local people inconservation. Local people are good source of traditional knowledge,developed through human nature interfaces over thousand of years. Thereforeconsideration of human face of wildlife management is very important.• Related laws and policies are conflicting and contradictory to each other,effectively exiling people within the Protected Areas from civilization anddebarring them from their basic and fundamental rights.• Mainly legal issues are emerging from rights, control and access over theresources. Our wildlife laws and policies limit the access of the local peopleover the resources which create major conflict. The local people living withinthe PAs critically depend on the natural resources for their sustenance. But ourconservation policy considers the local people as threat therefore restricts theaccess of the local people over the resources. It completely ignores the socialaspect of natural resource management thus converting the potential allies intopoachers causing depletion of the resources, which are not only affectinghumans but also our conservation goals.• The Wildlife (Amendment) Act, 1991 allowed for continuance of rights insidethe sanctuaries. But WLP (Amendment) Act, 2002 made such rights lesspossible by prohibiting all activities that are not ‘beneficial’ to wild life140