What was the purpose of Prime Minister’s Task Force and the related achievements?
The purpose was to integrate the tiger and tribal in the tiger’s habitat and ecosystem and formulate a strategy and agenda for the same. The so-called achievement has been perhaps the passing of the Tribal Act which is the prefect road-map for total catastrophe for the forest’s survival as well as the tribal dependent on it. On the one hand one wants the forest to b

Why not instead provide the tribal with amenities and an easier life outside the forest (most tribals want this) and he’ll be most happy. Should the tribal not be given the basic necessities like medical centres, schools etc.? The tribal is not a piece of museum exhibit representative of ‘ethnicity’; he is a human with basic needs. Why would he want to go through the hassles of living inside the forest which is depleting anyway, and which he will help to deplete further so that sustenance becomes difficult?

Eventually not the tiger nor the tribal would benefit but some business houses who would buy off the land from the tribal and pave the way for roads, mining, quarrying, felling or whatever the site has to offer as its assets.
How did the tribal land outside Mumbai and Thane disappear? The point also is, ‘Who is a tribal’? In some places, non-tribals are ‘buying’ certificates passing themselves off as tribals.

What is the present status of tigers?
Pathetic. Sariska saw the last of them. Translocation which they have done may prove catastrophic since they have not eliminated the problems that caused the annihilation of the erstwhile tiger population in the first place. Panna tigers got finished off due to sexual imbalance, leaving a females-only population to go out in serarch of tigers for mating. Straying out got them killed. This imbalance itself could be nature’s way of elimination in circumstances that are not conducive. In all tiger-bearing ecosystems mismanagement and governance apathy is leading to their elimination. Bureaucratic and political interference / indifference both are deleterious.

In Maharashtra, shrinking habitats, encroachment, illegal entry into forest by villagers for collection of MFP & NTFP, illegal grazing (very vital hurdle to forest conservation) are creating major man-animal conflicts while poaching too does not take a back seat. Fragmented forests leave a very porous forest boundary which a very depleted and ageing forest department field staff cannot adequately guard from poachers/peripheral villagers.
An increasing number of cattle grazing in the forests leads to tigers getting dependent on these cattle as prey material and water problems in the forests leads them to roam outside in search of water especially in the pinch period, therefore, more man-animal conflict and human deaths occur.

On the one hand we want to save the tiger and on the other hand we do everything to destroy / shrink / fragment its habitat. We have to give it adequate and enough territory for its survival, not only I terms of what the population is today, but in terms of what it is likely to be when the population increases, for after all, our intention is to have an increasing population. Which means that buffers must not only be created but areas must be left for notification in future as well and be declared currently as no development zones.

What should Central / State Governments do now?
a) First of all, stop interference and arm-bending by politicians and bureaucrats. Let them not encourage or themselves commit wildlife crimes, if they happen to be the kingpins behind the scenes.
b) Let the forest dept, NGOs, activists, villagers and all stake-holders keen on keeping the forests alive come together for a common cause.
c) Create an adequate and ecologically sound buffer zone around tiger reserves.
d) Create a forest protection cadre well-armed and well-trained, with the well-being of the forests in their hearts. Train them not only for detection of all types of forest and wildlife crimes, but the dynamics of forest-wildlife relationships.

What should the district administrations near the forests do now?
a) Arrange to educate the villagers and start programmes to reduce, and thereafter totally stop their dependence on the forests. Insist they save the forests as the forest is their water source and tell them, “Jungle Nadi ki Ma hai”. Teach them the importance of tiger conservation and the major role it plays in their own survival, i.e. if the tiger is safe, the forest is safe, and if the forest is safe so is their water source.
b) Financially support them to come out of their site-specific problems. If it’s a one- crop hamlet, teach them proper water harvesting and water and soil management , according to the terrain.
c) Give them money incentives for providing info on poachers, timber fellers and smugglers. Teach them that one tiger skin will feed them for a few days but self -reliance will feed them lifelong.
d) Teach them crafts according to local resource availability.
e) Give them lessons in cleanliness & hygiene, hospitality & house-keeping, sanitation, pollution control, waste management etc. for eco-tourism needs, and set up for them small huts which they can promote as resorts made from locally available material but providing basic comforts.

What should communities near the forests do ?
After being taught the above, the communities should make an attempt to be self-reliant and abide by the rules of the above.

What should corporates do now?
a) Corporates must own responsibility for tiger conservation and desist from any activity that threatens the tiger’s survival. Tiger conservation should be part of their corporate social agenda.
b) Since they have funds for the above sort of work, they should help fund the villagers in whatever practical manner of help needed.
c) They can supplement the forest department’s requirement of patrolling vehicles, arms and uniform for the staff, set up comfortable accommodation for front-line staff.
d) Impart lessons in hygiene, hospitality etc. (s above) to villagers and equip them for eco-tourism units. This can specially be done by owners of resorts in the forest peripheries. Those having resorts should give full employment to the villagers who are the direct stake-holders at may be lower levels to start with and give them incentives for rising higher.

What is the role of NGOs and activists?
To supplement / implement the forest deopartment’s initiatives and programmes. They play also a vital role in keeping a check on the forest department’s activities which are sometimes found wanting.
They can support research work and lobby on behalf of tiger conservation.

What question should MPs ask in the nest parliament?
a) Why is the budget allocated for tiger conservation so low?
b) Why are projects detrimental to tiger conservation and its ecosystems, like mining, quarrying, creation / widening of highways, irrigation projects being promoted? While they talk in terms of saving the tiger, why are the activities not supportive of it but detrimental to it?
c) Why are buffer zones not being notified which is the immediate need?
d) Why is the Tribal Act being promoted when it is obviously detrimental to the tiger and its habitats as well as to the tribal himself?
e) Why is there so little coordinated effort in saving the tiger?
f) Why is tiger conservation such low priority for enforcement agencies like the police and customs?

How should the media cover this issue?
a) They should first themselves become more sensitive to tiger conservation issues by understanding the intricacies and nuances of tiger conservation and then take up issues relevant to it to create awareness among the public so the reader wakes out of its stupor.
b) Not just write but the time is ripe for creating hype about it. They must see that through their reports, the public response is proactive and continuous and nor merely transient. The media must explain to them the importance of the tiger and its habitat and their survival.
c) Invite readers by creating a Platform for them to get together and discuss and act. The media has a big draw and this could work.
d) Arouse the masses and create a mass movement to take to the highest level in the country and be heard by the PM and get him to ACT. Insist that the leadership and governance act upon it with urgency and immediacy. This is no time to lie low as waiting periods are a thing of the past in the current scenario. It’s now or never…it’s a matter of life and death.
e) The media should not just write, report and forget...they should hammer on a daily basis. The must feel committed to take their role further and ACT upon what they write by getting the masses to react.

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