People Living in Wildlife Areas Causing Tiger Death, MP Govt. Tells SC

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:39:48 +0530

There was a war of words over what harms tigers most in Madhya Pradesh - tourism or humans. The fight got bigger with the state of Madhya Pradesh blaming the people who live in tiger reserves for the death of the wild cats while the NGO ‘Wildlife Trust of India’ blamed it on increased tourism.

This issue cropped up in response to a PIL filed by the RTI Activist Ajay Dubey in the Supreme Court, who demanded a ban on any tourism activities in the core tiger reserve areas with the National Tiger Conservation Authority backing the PIL.

NTCA has issued guidelines stating all states to shift their tourist activities outside the reserves and completely ban tourism in the reserve areas. A total area of nearly 1000 sq. km has been declared as a core habitat for tigers.

“In the present circumstances tourism will not sustain in the buffer areas of alone because the buffer areas do not get the level of protection as granted to the core area and hence the density of the wildlife in buffer area is very less,” the state government said in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court.

The state government argued that relocating people from the area was a better option than stopping tourism altogether. Countering this statement, WTI later said that certain bad effects of tourism could be felt in tiger reserve areas such as Ranthambore and Corbett.

The WTI has also stated that the resorts in the area get 50% of their wood from the forests, disturbing the ecology. “There is a critical need to restrict and regulate tourism activities within and outside tiger reserves,” the WTI said, in its application filed before the court.

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People Living in Wildlife Areas Causing Tiger Death, MP Govt. Tells SC