Jairam Ramesh sets agenda for Ranthambore

JAIPUR: After five tigers were shifted to Sariska reserve from Ranthambore National Park, the focus had shifted to the latter with Union minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh himself setting the agenda for the national park.

In a letter to chief minister Ashok Gehlot recently, Ramesh, while expressing happiness on the increasing population of big cats in Ranthambore, however expressed the need for improvement of the habitat in the remaining part of the core area so as to accommodate those tigers left without a territory. Ramesh had sought the personal intervention of Gehlot into the matter.

In his letter, the Union minister had explained that the original national park is considerably small in area and hence there was a need to expand other parts of the park.

Ranthambore currently has nearly 40 tigers in an area of 1,334 sq km along with the nearby sanctuaries of Kailadevi and Man Singh. While the large number of cats spell good for conservationists, the flip side is that many tigers have strayed away from the park due to want of space or are getting more and more involved in territorial fights that sometimes turn fatal.

It is in this context that the ministry of forests expressed urgency in improving the conditions there. In fact, the minister had spelled out the need for correcting the sex ratio and even hinted at relocating tigers from Ranthambore to outside the state in his last visit.

The union minister had urged for expediting the relocation of some villages from the core area especially the remaining families of Padra, Indala and Machanki, besides other villages that has an immediate impact on a priority basis. The minister has sought a complete proposal incorporating details of all the villages in a prescribed format for central assistance.

The proposal for a special tiger protection force had also been stressed in the letter. The Centre had given a total of Rs 93 lakh to the state for raising such a force for the better protection of tigers in the park. The minister had sought immediate action in this regard.

Also on the agenda is the notification of a buffer zone around the core area of the tiger habitat. The minister has sought an active management of such a zone around the forest by the state so as to secure the support of the local people by providing them livelihood options with Central assistance.

Ramesh had also hinted in his letter to the chief minister for preparing a consolidated Tiger Conservation Plan in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India for tigers in the core and buffer zones.

Besides, the creation of satellite core areas' has also been sought to accommodate tigers straying out of the national park. In this context, the sanctuaries of Dara and Ramgarh Vishdhari have been identified by the minister as probable satellite core areas
.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Jairam-Ramesh-sets-agenda-for-Ranthambore/articleshow/6327332.cms