Tiger Task Force suggestions still hanging fire: Ecologist

Panaji, Jul 19 (PTI) The recommendations given by the Tiger Task Force are still awaiting implementation by the Centre, a senior member of the panel said today. "The Task Force, among other things, had recommended that the management of Tiger Reserves should be made much more participatory and people-friendly," Madhav Gadgil said here. "But the recommendations of Tiger Task Force are not at all being implemented," said Gadgil, who now heads Ministry of Environment nd Forests' (MoEF) panel on Western Ghats. The Task Force was formed by the Centre in 2005 to suggest ways to increase the number of tigers and improve their natural habitat. "I am not happy with the rigid regulatory approach of the Forest Department," said the noted environmentalist. Gadgil was talking to reporters on the sidelines of a youth convention on environment and development. MoEF has asked the Goa Government to send a proposal on declaring Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary as a Tiger Reserve. In this regard, Gadgil said "It has to be decided by the State Government as to what kind of participatory process local people will be involved with." Rubbishing contention that people's presence in the reserves would affect the tiger habitat, he said preservation of sacred groves (forest fragments) is the best way to prove that people's participation can do wonders. "In the Western Ghats, the sacred groves are the best example of preservation of bio-diversity. They are not protected by government but by the people," he added.
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