Orissa asks centre to approve forest clearance for irrigation project
Showing posts with label WII. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WII. Show all posts
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Orrisa asks centre for more money for Similipal as it refutes WII tiger census numbers
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik met Central MOEF Jairam Ramesh and is reported to have requested for expediting sanctioning of funds for Similipal Tiger reserve as part of the annual plan according to Orrisadiary.com. This blog yesterday highlighted the tug of war going on between state govt and Centre appointed Tiger Conservation bodies on number of tigers inside Similipal tiger reserve. For the last couple of years WII has been indicating decline in population of big cats where as state govt has been repeatedly denying the facts. State govt officials apparently have no reason to feel accountable to either the centre or tiger conservationists as the chief minister himself has been speaking against WII numbers to avoid publicly accepting the embarrassing truth of not being able to save the national animal from slaughter. Similar denials in Panna over the last few years ensured the disappearance of tigers from the reserve and orrisa seems to be following in the footsteps of MP govt.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Orrisa refuses to trust WII tiger count for Similipal - Orders another one
Despite two surveys by credible organisations over as many years pointing out to decline in tiger numbers in Similipal Tiger reserve, state govt of Orrisa refuses to believe the news. After the 2007 tiger census pointed out low tiger density, Chief minister Navin Patnaik himself had questioned the validity of the numbers. Now after another count conducted by WII recently found tiger population to have fallen to just 41, down from almost 100, the chief wildlife officer taking a cue from his boss has questioned the figures again. Similipal has been in news recently due to maoist problems and local mafia along with villagers having taken over the park. In fact chief minister Navin Patnaik himself had asked the centre to deploy CRPF to protect the park from being raided by poaching gangs. Now that a credible nodal body has laid bare the facts, the least state govt can do is get out of its denial mode. Our readers would remember similar denials issued by park directors of Panna in MP doomed the tigers there. One hopes a similar story is not unfolding in Similipal. The centre should push Orrisa govt to sign the tripartite agreement which will put an end to such blatant attempts at cover ups.
Orissa to recount Tigers in Similipal Tiger Reserv
Monday, September 21, 2009
Now tiger sanctuaries will be evaluated by independent experts
Keen to ensure best practices are introduced in tiger conservation, the centre has constitued 5 committees of experts for evaluating the management and functioninig of tigers reserves across India, reports TOI today. The evaluation will be done basis parameters set by WII and commitees will include tiger experts like Belinda Wright. Now that the centre is signing legally binding MOUs with states to make field officials accountable for their actions it might be a a good idea to include some of the parameters in the agreements to ensure consistency across the board.
Panels to evaluate functioning of tiger reserve |
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Uttarakhand govt allows project in the middle of Wildlife corridor in Nainital
The delicate balance betweeen development and conservation which is so key to wildlife protection is being gradually eroded by shortsighted policies of govt.
In a development that has set alarm bells ringing amongst conservation NGOs the Uttarakhand Govt has given permission for infratructure project to be developed right in the middle of a wildlife corridor reports the Times of India.
The said project is key to Tiger and Elephant movement across sanctuaries as per WII which published a report in 2003 and identified the area as key to healthy mixing of wildlife stock in the entire region.
Development no doubt is key every country's progress but at the expense of detroying critical wildlife !!
Thankfully the central govt has taken note of the development and along with found NGOs WII, WWF have decided to visit the area to access the ground situation.
As minister MOEF Jairam Ramesh has been stating, there is an urgent need to create a nodal body with statutory powers to evaluate such projects before they are taken up.
A harmonious balance needs to be found between preserveing forests,wildlife and development which is so key for the survival of future generations.
Wildlife corridor in Uttarakhand faces trouble
Friday, September 18, 2009
Goa forest officials continue flip flop - Tiger killing Case set for quiet burial
An old saying in Hindi translated roughly means , You need to lie a 100 times to cover up one lie. This in essence sums up investigations into unforunate case of a tiger killed in Goa in March this year. After trying to hush up the incident from the very beggining, Goa Forest officials now are just waiting to close the case. Perhaps the case should also rest in peace like the soul of the dead tiger. Consider the series of events:
A tiger is killed in Mhadei wildlife sanctuary in Goa. As reports of killing reach wildlife officials they go into denial mode asking for proof rather than initiating investigations. Local journalists take pictures of the carcass which is published in newspapers. Even after that wildlife officials put the onus of getting 'concrete proof' on the journalists rather than taking congnizance of the pictures. After much media pressure investigations are initiated but vital time is lost which allows the villagers who had killed the tiger to burn the carcass. Some evidence is finally found in the form of burnt skin and sometiger parts which wildlife officials claim are from the killed tiger and samples are sent to WII Dehradun for confirmation. In the meanwhileowner of farm where the tiger parts are found is arrested by forest officials while the villagers ostracize a local who led the invetigation team to the burnt carcass. A local court releases the accused on bail since there is no evidence to even prove a tiger was killed let alone proof of the accused being involved. After being let off, the accused files a case against the forest officials for harrassment and torture in custody and bizzarely the local cops file an FIR against the forest officials. And in the final death knell to the case WII said last week that samples sent for investigation donot even belong to a tiger indicating the sample was changed before it reached them. With no evidence, no witness, investigators being harrassed it is unlikely the case will move any where. After systematically destroying the case Goa Wildlife officials have decided to form a board which will study the WII report and might advise future course of actoin which might as well be shutting the case for good.
Goa not to close tiger killing case as of now: CCF
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