Wildlife and Nature Conservation - Centre for Ecological Sciences

in the media, Project Tiger has been rated as one of the 56 events that changed India sinceindependence.The project, which was a pioneering effort of a unique kind, has shown how a megaspeciescould be used to create support for diverse and representative ecosystemconservation, which can and has conserved water, soil, faunal and floral biodiversity andwilderness.9.2.3.1 The Tiger Task Force ReportFollowing the uproar caused by the news that the national animal had disappeared fromone of the Tiger Reserves, namely Sariska in Rajasthan, the Chairman of the NationalBoard for Wildlife and the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, set up a TaskForce to assess the situation vis-a-vis Project Tiger and to submit a time-bound report.Sariska was a crisis waiting to happen and it is bound to occur e1sewhere if matters arenot rectified. It also brought into limelight the prevalent situation with regard to wildlifeconservation in the country, for if this be the situation in one of the oldest reserves of theprime project initiated by the Government for the conservation of the tiger in particularand of nature in general, one can assess the situation in "lesser" parks and wildlifesanctuaries, not to speak of other habitats and of wildlife in the country. Natureconservation efforts unfortunately, have historically always flowed from the 'top': theBritish, the princes, and a couple of Prime Ministers. The conservation movement has nottaken root in rural areas and even in the urban areas outside a segment of society.Considering the short time given for the task, ‘Joining the Dots’ is a very well presentedand fairly comprehensive report with a number of appropriate suggestions, some known,others brought into greater focus than before. Some of the notable recommendationscover institutional mechanisms such as creation of two separate departments ofEnvironment and of Forests and Wildlife within the MoEF and the creation of a subcadreof wildlife specialists and professionals within the forestry services, which thisreport also stresses upon. It recommends greater powers to the Project Tiger Directorateand periodic independent audit of each reserve; recruitment of local personnel to man thePAs; the traditional hunting tribes and communities living in and around PAs to beintegrated in the conservation efforts and the people to be provided alternatives, relaxingminimum educational qualifications, if required; protection by security forces of anyreserves threatened by insurgency; a focus on control over wildlife crime including aspecial bureau to deal with this menace; development of forensic facilities to assist thebureau; a closer bilateral relationship to be built up with China to combat illegal trade;the introduction of a more scientific method of estimating tiger population andmonitoring the habitat; a greater emphasis on research to assist better conservation; anurgent and realistic review of villages and people that need to be relocated from TigerReserves and of assuring acceptable and beneficial relocation; need of deve1opinglinkages with the local people to help both the people and wildlife to co-exist, includingpayment of compensation; and regulation and management of tourism so that it wouldassist conservation and not be in conflict with it. It also advocates for the payment forecological conservation rendered by tiger reserves. The NFC endorses theserecommendations.115