NGO tries to make peace in Kaziranga

Jorhat, Feb. 11: Aaranyak, an NGO involved in the ongoing tiger census at Kaziranga National Park, today asked the park authorities not to enforce a total ban on tourist movement in areas already marked as tourism zones, so as not to dent livelihood avenues.

The request came after local organisations, opposed to Project Tiger for its myriad restrictions, asked Aaranyak to stall all its activities and leave Kaziranga.

The organisations, led by the Kaziranga Jeep Safari Association, fear that the tiger project in Kaziranga would hit the flourishing tourism industry, given the restrictions on flow of tourists to the core area of the park once Project Tiger is implemented completely. Besides, they felt that the focus on the big cat would rob Kaziranga of its glamour, since the national park has long been a draw for being the home of the rhino.

Bibhab Kumar Talukdar, secretary general of the NGO, said Aaranyak was supportive of eco-friendly tourism at Kaziranga and felt that the benefits of tourism should reach most of the villages around the park.

“Tourism activities should be promoted uniformly in all the five ranges of the park, including the north bank range,” he said. Talukdar said the ongoing census of tigers using camera traps at Kaziranga was initiated in 2009 in collaboration with the authorities of the park after it was declared a tiger reserve in 2006.

“The objective of the research was to bring out information on the number of tigers using modern scientific techniques and the initial findings have already put Kaziranga in the global focus with respect to successful conservation of habitats that support tigers along with one-horned rhinos and other species,” he said.

Kaziranga was found to have the highest density of tigers in the world in a finding by Aaranyak a few years back.

Punen Gogoi, president of the Kaziranga Jeep Safari Association, however, alleged that Aaranyak members, who are working at Kaziranga did not take the people near the park into confidence.

“They never held any discussion with the local people and worked on their own will. We will not allow them to work here unless they take us into confidence,” he said.