Monday, July 20, 2009
Now Similipal in Orrisa
One by one skeletons are tumbling out but our political class doesnt seem to care one bit. After Siriska, Panna and Sanjay National Park lost all their tigers Similipal in Orrisa seems to have lost almost half of its big cat population under the 'watchful eyes' of NTCA and state wild life officials. From a stated population of 101 a few years ago, the state govt census conducted recently put the population at 61. This when the reserve used upwards of Rs. 10 crores of grant provided to it by the NTCA. What is more intruiging is that the population of tigers could be much lower with WII last year claiming it to be only 21 after its own round of census. It is to provide a couter to the WII findings that the state instituted its own census and came out with thrice their figure. If the credibility of state governments in conducting Tiger Census over the years is taken into account then the real figure is more likely to be close to the WII number which is extremely disconcerting. Rather than fixing accountabilty for the loss, the state govt is deflecting the issue by floating new numbers and claiming the park to be in good health despite the 40% drop as per its own numbers. MOEF Minister Jairam Ramesh should step in such cases and institute central level enquries for fixing responsibility.
Another minister with blinkers on !
A report in TOI today cites Mahrashatra Forest Minister Baban Rao Panchpute transferring aruond 350 forest officials from across reserves at one stroke. With sanctuaries already understaffed such a massive movement of officials especially during monsoons which is the best time for pocahers will provides further reason for concern. As this blog has been saying, states and centre need to take joint responsbility for protection for parks but a subject as sensitive as protection of tiger sancturies can not be left to states who are the mercy of ill advised, ego driven officials and minsters conniving to destory India's wilflife heritage. The centre should step in to ensure laws are followed properly esp in Maharashtra where the Congress Govt is in power as in the centre. There should be a decree to have a replacement take over before any officials is transferred else it provides ample opportunity for poachers to strike when the park is unmanned at the top. State goverments themselves would do well to show some sensitivity towards the environement by appointing ministers who have not just knowledge of environment but empathise with the cause.
Pachpute ignores wildlife areas again
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Will there be justice in the Goa Tiger killing case
After much dilly dallying the forest department arreseted a person in connection with the killing as per a TOI report today. Given how the case has gone on so far it will not be surprising if the case dies a natural death since months have passed between the killing of the big cat and arrest of a suspect. One can safely assume that all material evidence linked to the killing would have been destroyed by now. If the miniter MOEF is serious about protection tiger populations across the country he should either ensure cases of suspect killing are handed over tothe CBI to uncover the mafias behind these deaths or should bring in a law in the parliament to give a CBI kind of status to Wildlife crime investigation bodies. Unless any of this is done it will be mightly tough for local law enforcement or Forest officials who are the mercy of local mafias to prevent further killings.
Bail plea of alleged tiger killer rejected
Field Directors meet at Sariska - Release of timely funds major issue
According to a TOI report, the field directors meet called for on 25/26th July in Sariska is likely to see presentations being made by directors pf parks in the presence of MOEF Minister Jairam Ramesh. As per the report, 'Sources said the meet will focus on tripartite memorandum of understandings (MoUs), enforcement, intelligence gathering, progress on special tiger protection force (STPF) deployment and protection, disturbance due to Naxal and extremists' presence in the reserves. ' The centre needs to play an aggressive role in tiger conservation and not wait for states to address tricky issues before it is too late. Couple of prominent reasons cited for lack of security in parks has been non appointment of senior officials in time and lack of timely release of funds by centre for security related activities. Without adequate funds, parks are unable generally to hire locals to work on daily patraolling related jobs which hinders protection programmes. Since the minister has been showing increasing concern about vanishing forests and tigers he might well be advised to take immediate action to address these two points with urgency.
Will mining issue be raised at Sariska meet?
Friday, July 17, 2009
Is Radio Collaring behind tiger deaths ?
According to a report carried by Zee News online a wildlfe intelligence report has blamed Radio Collars for tiger death. Citing carelessness on part of forest officials in collaring the tigers and the susequent strain it created on the beast it says collars restricted movements of tigers due to their weight and caused infections in the neck in some cases leading to fatalities. Though there isnt any conclusive evidence to prove it but the report also suggests that some poachers might have got hold of the radio frequency of the collars hence making it very easy for them to track down the cats. Radio Collars have been widely used in wildlife projects to understand animal behaviour but as this case shows lack of understanding coupled with official apathy can lead to significant damage though apparently rules might have been followed.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Contributing our bit !
A report in DNA today cites an investgitation by a central team into tiger deaths which concluded that there was evidence of tiger deaths taking place in Panna due to tranquilising. After all the hue and cry raised by centre and state and the buck passing that has taken place over the last few months it seems we are no where near to ascretaining the real cause of tiger deaths. And unless we get a definitive fix on the reasons it is impossible to afix responsibility and take preventive steps for future preventition. Apart from other actions the MOEF shoould make it mandatory for the WWF and NTCA to investigate disappearance of every single tiger and for that to happen each animal in the country needs to be identified and tracked. Without this is going to be very tough to know how many tigers existed in a particular sanctuary and whether the numbers are headed up or down.
Did tranquillisers kill Panna tigers?
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
More distressing news - Another reserve looses its tigers
According to today's newspaper reports another reserve, this time a lesser known Sanjay Tiger Reserve in MP has also lost all its big cats. The reports cite the ex director of the park saying during a recently concluded census no tiger was spotted. Even more shockingly the MP govt tabled a report in the state assembly two days back on the status of tigers. Curiously the report doesnt even mention the name of the reserve although it used to be apremier reserve in the once undivided Madhya Pradesh with upto 36 tigers in 1992.
No tiger in Sanjay Tiger Reserve also, says official
Living in denial
Yesterday during a debate in the MP assemby the minister of Forests squarely passed the blame of Panna Fiasco on the centre. Citing NTCA guidelines for tiger protection and that many other reserves in the country were faring no better, the minister proudly claimed that MP govt has done there was needed to and if there was a lapse it was on part of the NTCA and the rules framed by the body. Why else, he questioned, would other states too loose tigers as all ofthem have been followig NTCA protocols. Though there is some merit int he argument but to stretch it to absolve its own officials borders on apathy and criminal conspiracy. Tiger consrvation clearly has been a state subject with forest areas under the jurisdiction of state govt. NTCA has so far been drawing out guidelines for states to follow but that doesnt mean the state govts themselves shut their eyes to what is needed beyond the stated guidelines. It is akin to saying The centre told us to set up hospitals but didnt inform us that patients need to be treated to save lives hence state government cant be blamed. The longer this buck passing goes on lesser the chances that anything worthwhile will be done soon to repair the immense damage that has been caused to wildlife in the country in recent years. Madhya Pradesh is not just the heart of the country as their campaign claims, it is also the torch bearer of wildlife prjects in the country and if the premier state doesnt take lead in protecting tigers the hopes of saving big cats from extinction dont brighten up considerably. Rather than indulging in a blame game with the centre, the state government should rather focus their energies on what they can do to aviod Panna like fiascos in teh future. The need of the hour is to streamline the system and strengthen political will. For a senior govt functionary to make such a statement in the assembly doesnt just show callousness on this part but also displays a total lack of sensitivity to what is expected of him as the state's supreme guardian of wildlife. One can only hope that the state government learns from its mistakes and takes corrective steps soon to prevent further loss of tigers in the state.
MP refuses to take Panna blame, tells tiger authority to change policy
Monday, July 13, 2009
Shocking case of money power being used to twist rules
A piece carried in The Organiser by Sangeet Verma exposes the mis deeds of private resort owners in Satpura national park. According to the story resort owners have been appaently promoting acvities that are not allowed within the boudaries of the park. Obvisouly it has been going on with the connivance of local forest officials who have been looking the other way and worse still have benefitted illegally from such activities. With rampant politicisation of forest departments in states, it it hardly difficult to lure guards and officials who are already low on morale into either looking the other way to getting them to conspire into breaking rules of the jungle. The incident comes on the heels of a report owner cruching a tiger cub under the wheels of his jeep inside bandhavgarh forest a few months back ostensibly to provide a better dekho to his foreign clients. State governments need to de politicise forest departments to allow them function in the interests of convervation rather than for private ones. Increasing cases of laws being broken with impunity by people who can afford to buy them are making a mockery of forest conservation efforts. The centre could also pitch in by instituting a central body which closely investigates every incident within national parks. If it means changing the laws to make forest conservation and joint State and centre subject then it should be done at the earliest. Leaving this important issue under the domain of state goverments alone is clrealy causing immense damage.
Plunder of biodiversity
Bio-smugglers target MP forests
By Sangeet Verma
Bio-smugglers target MP forests
By Sangeet Verma
Can we have some real action now !
The minister MOEF Jairam Ramesh has today spoken about making laws related to wildlife esp Tiger poaching much more stringent. Though no one can deny the need for such a step the key is to convert this talk into action urgently. A report in The Hindu today quotes P K Sen, former director of NTCA saying greens have been pushing for a such a provision for over two decades now without much result. As the case two days back of the female poacher in UP having been finally sent behind bars after comitting two decades of wildlife crimes shows, the need to push for reform in wildlife law is desperate. For every day we delay wildlife across the country falls prey to poaching mafia and with no one to ensure speedy justice, criminals are having a free run in India's supposedly well protected sanctuaries.
The Hindi report also states the minister having disussed the matter with Harish Salve Amicus Curae for Supreme Court on environment matters and one hopes the process of converting talk into action doesnt take too long.
Centre planning legislation for speedy conviction of poachers
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Better security infrastructure in parks key to tiger protection
Today's DNA carries an on ground report about a recently recruited ex army forest guard going through the grinds of protecting the Ranthambore Tigers against poachers on foot and with a stick in his hands. Though the report exposes nothing new about the pathetic state of reqources available to forest officials to fight well armed gangs of poches but it does highlight the continuing gap between lip serive being paidby the state and central governments and action on ground. Till such time we donot equip and pay our forces better it is unfair for us toexpect them to be able to do a good job. We cant imagine stick carrying ex army officers worried about their next meal to be fully committed to fighting well armed gangs of international poachers. This incident also goes on to hightlight in some ways the deep rooted corruption in the government departments entrusted with forest consevation. Despite ever increasin budgets being allocated for tiger conservation if this is the best we can gie to out forest guards in one of the best known reserves of the country close tothe National capital and one can well imagine the complete apathy that pervades efforts across other lesser know forest areas.
Armed with a stick, Pappu protects the tigers
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Speedy justice is important for Prevention of future crime
It is shocking how in our country criminals are able to find so many loopholes in the system to be able to evade any meaningful punishment for prolonged periods of time. Justice dealyed is justide denied and how well are we at denying that to the main focus of conservation efforts in india ; the tiger. In a shocking case of miscarriage of justice a poacher in was convicted by a Pilibhit court apparently after having run a poaching racket for well over 2 decades. According to the report in Indian Express an officials associated with the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau “The gang, operating as poachers, carriers and traders of tiger skin, bones, has been active for at least 30 years before it caught our attention in 2005,” .
30 years for a criminal to operate without being caught can not happen with out official complicity & apathy, a fact that still is not under any sort of
investigation. This poacher and her gang has been under the lens of wild life officials numerous times in the last decade or so and still managed to run her operations with impunity, killing tigers under the noses of forest officials. No wonder we have become masters at paying lip service to tiger conservation and our efforts are falling way short of what is required of us. Though the WCCB officials are hopeful that this conviction will help bring poaching of tigers under some control in UP but going by the amount of time it has taken to achieve it one feels poachers in the state will be emboldened to increase their illegal activities since law might not catch with them for a very long time.
If there is an area the state government and MOEF need to fix apart from saving tiger habitats from encroachment they dont need to look beyond this story. Strengthening of wildlife crime bureaux, arming forest officials with better equipment and giving them more power, setting up fast track courts for wild life crimes and making bail provisions more stringent for suspected poachers will go a long way in acting as detterants for wild life related crimes.
Forest dept relieved as master poacher is behind the bars
Tiger farming might be the last resort to save tigers
There have been arguments galore about whether this will work or not but for all we know there might be no other option left for us if we want to see the big cat alive in real flesh in its natural habitat. Though conservationists across the board have consistently argued about how it is an unworkable idea and how it will not bring in the expected drop in demand for wild tiger parts. In fact to the contrary people belive it might actually stimulate further demand for tiger parts and hence be detrimental to the conservation efforts but one can not ignoare the fact that the pace at which countries like India are loosing tiger to loss of habitat and poaching we might not have any tigers left out side of zoos anyway in another decade's time. Despite the intense pressure being brought about by the green lobby in the past few years and the PMs sporadic efforts at tiger conservation and the role played by the media, some fundamental problems facing tiger conservation in India are not being addressed. As some media reports have suggested, India lost some 45 odd tigers in the last 6months and possiblly more unaccounted ones too. At such a rate of loss once you also factor in loss of habitat to iundustrialisation and farming the future of saving the tiger from extinction in India doesnt look very bright. At most we might be able to have smaller areas inside so called reserves with tigers being allowed to roam inside fenced boundaries. A glorified Zoo is what will be left of the sanctuaries with very few number of tigers and considerably weakened gene pool to sustain future populations. Given all of this it might not be a bad idea for the the MOEF to constitute a committe of scientists and experts from the field of tiger conservation to study the topic in detail and evaluate whether we should look at such a possiblity in the future if not now and how do we prepare for it.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Adani mines in Chandrapur get another lease of life
After the recent annoucement by the Cabinet Minister Jai Ram Ramesh about getting tough with environmental clearances for industrial proects here comes the shocking news of Maharashtra Forest officials trying to push through a highly controversial mining projects in the forests adjoining Tadoba Tiger Reserve. The project has been in news for the last years for the immense potential damage it can cause to the forests around the area and the tiger reserve. But the lure of quick big money is too much to resist for some and despite all the obvious dangers the project just keeps getting a fresh lease of life every now and then. If there was a time to convert words in deeds for the new MOEF this is the best opportunity to ensure tiger habitats are not lost to industry and land mafia. The minister should immediately step in a put the project on hold untill a comprehensive study is carried out to access the impact of the project on the surroinding areas by a well know independent team of researchers and scientists.
A report in DNA today states that despite objections from the green brigade and their own officals the state government esp the Forest Minister seems keen on pushing the project through without proper impact assessment.
Officials in hurry to pass mining project?
Still living in denial - MP govt says only 4 tigers in Panna lost to poaching !!
If things werent bad enough already, the minister of forests for MP made a statement in the assembly citing age, rivalry and poisoning as the main causes for tigers disappering from Panna. Read between the lines and the message is that the goverment doesnt think there is a serious problem which means there isnt any need for forceful corrective measures to be taken. Imagine all the rucus of the last few years and we still have law makers either turning a blind eye to the problem or worse still acting in concert with the land/poaching/industry mafia to rid the states of forest cover.
Its taken years to accept, how many more for action
The MOEF minister in the Rajya sabha yesterday finally accepted that the tiger is in serious trouble in the country. Imagine all the media hype and pressure from the green brigade being brought on the govt has taken 3 years after the Sarika disaster coming to light to accept this. If this is the pace of things to come then one wonders how many years before the government takes credible action to sustain tiger population in the country and whether the big cat will survive in the wild till then. It is all fine to make statements in the parliament accepting there is a problem but what we have not seen being tabled by the minister or his predecessor are steps being taken by the govt to put an end to poaching and loss of tiger habitats. Apart from shfting the blame on state governments and tiger reserves there is need for the centre to get more actively involved in the protecting the national treasure. It is like saving the Taj Mahal. If the monument was in danger, the centre would not wait for the UP govt to act. MOEF needs to show similar leadership in saving the tiger before it is too late.
Ramesh expresses concern over tiger population
Sujay MehdudiaMonday, July 6, 2009
Great news in Budget for Tiger conservation
As per the budget plans announced by FM today allocation for Tiger Conservation has beenmore than doubled to Rs. 184 Crs. and overall funding tot eh MOEF has been increased by almost 25% to Rs. 2129 Crs. Great news for the green brigade.
Govt. doubles allocation for tiger conservation
Another desperate attempt at protecting tigers
Today's TOI reports a letter sent by teh NTCA to 11 Tiger reserves arcoss the country to create a cordoned off core area for breeding of tigers. With the big cat disappearing at an alarming rate despite all the hype and subsequent efforts the NTCA is trying to come up with desperate measures to protect sustanable tiger populations. This move though has been slammed by Conservationists as ill conceived. According to experts quoted in the report, tigers cant be bred in a zoo type environment and the goverment (read NTCA) would be better of spending their resources in protecting tiger habitats and prevent poaching.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Bid-to-cordon-off-big-cats-sparks-row/articleshow/4742282.cms#
|
Good news confirmed
The Supreme Court appointed CEC has firmly said NO to the widening of Nagpur-Jabalpur National Highway that passes through Pench reserve. Recently, Rajya sabha MP My. Vijay Darda had also taken up the cause of environment protection and written letters to teh Prime Minister and UPA Chairperson to intervence in the matter. Looks like all the efforts have finally paid of.
SC panel against NH-7 widening along Pench
6 Jul 2009, 0512 hrs IST, Vijay Pinjarkar, TNN
The upshot of media hype
A TOI report today states increased interest in an obscure post in a wildlife posting based out of Nagpur. With concerns about wildlife and forest protection increasing wildlife officials are a sought after lot these days.
Four in race for wildlife warden's post
6 Jul 2009, 0444 hrs IST, Vijay Pinjarkar, TNN
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)