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Satellite imagery shows that human habitation in and on the periphery of
forests, encroachment, and illegal logging has reduced forest cover in 11 of
the 28 forests and the proposed Tribal Rights Bill (TRB) legalizing forest
dwellers land rights will exacerbate this scenario. Wild life activists say
that this new bill will increase the pressure on crumbling ecology and
undermine tiger conservation efforts. The Indian tiger is hunted for its pelt
and bones by politically connected poachers with impunity.
Federal Environment Secretary Prodipto Ghosh claims that poaching of Tigers
will not increase with the opening the Nathu-la Pass on July 6 for trade
between India and China since the security forces guard the pass and would be
trained to identify tiger body parts. He also claimed that the Government has
taken several steps to check illegal trade of animal parts, including smuggling
of tiger parts like skin and nails. He added that the Chinese government has
also implemented laws banning use of tiger parts in medicine and disallowing
display of products made by using endangered animals. Despite such claims,
independent reports point the other way. While the Government may be
well-intentioned and the Chinese Government cooperative, lack of enforcement on
the ground makes laws useless and tiger poaching continues unabated.
While poaching is an immediate threat for tiger conservation, habitat loss is
of far serious consequence because regenerating and improving destroyed habitat
is difficult if not impossible. Ghosh conceded that the Sariska National Park
in Rajasthan is no longer fit to be home to tigers because invasive human
presence and thinning green cover has completely destroyed the natural habitat
of the tigers. Commissioned by the Federal Environment and Forest Ministries,
the Wildlife Institute of India’s ecological analysis of the reserve finds that
not only had Sariska lost almost 11 square km of forest cover, tigers have not
been able to reproduce in the park for the last seven to eight years.
The TRB seeks to grant legal rights to tribals residing in forest till 1980
and up to 2.5 hectares where they are living right now. Government estimates
that two million people live inside forests and some in the core areas of
national parks. The TRB will grant them permanent right to residence in the
forests and independent experts say that a significant part of forest land will
be diverted for granting legal rights to tribals. Their dependence on forests
and economic aspirations are worrying conservationists trying to keep tiger
habitats free from human interference. Further, there is fear that illiterate
and unarmed tribals may be forced out their land by poaching and land mafias
thus subverting the fundamental assumptions of the bill.
The Forest Survey of India reports that Tiger reserves of Nameri, Manas,
Indravati, Buxa and Dampa have showed a significant loss of forest cover while
Bandipur-Nagarhole, Dudhwa-Katarniaghat, Kanha, Pakhui, Palamu and Sundarbans
are also showing declining trends in forest cover. These reserves are under
threat from human habitations within and outside the reserve, encroachment and
cattle grazing. For the first time, the report showed loss of forest in a 10
kilometers (km) radius from the periphery of reserves. Conservationists say
that outer forests health is crucial as it buffers the reserve from external
human pressures therefore enhancing the prey base for wild cats. The report
also said that of the 11 tiger reserves with shrinking forest cover, the worst
ones lost 7 to 45 sq km and the less affected ones by less than 4 sq km.
Detailed analysis has also thrown up natural and unnatural causes for forest
cover change. In the Buxa Tiger Reserve, flooding of the river flowing through
the reserve caused forest decrease during 2000-2002. However, it is not clear
whether the flooding was natural or manmade. In Nameri, Manas, Indravati, Kanha,
and Palamu Tiger Reserves illegal logging and encroachment are seen as primary
reasons for forest cover shrinkage. In Dampa and Pakhui Tiger Reserves,
shifting cultivation is cited as the cause. Change in the course of the Mohana
River is cited as the likely cause for the shrinkage in Dudhwa-Katarniaghat
Tiger Reserve. The decrease in Sundarbans Tiger Reserve was caused by ebb
erosion in Mayadweep Island. A rehabilitation centre inside Bandipur Tiger
Reserve has caused shrinkage in that forest.
The only Reserves that actually grew in forest cover were the ones at
Bandhavgarh, Corbett, Nagarjuna Sagar-Srisailam, Namdapha, and Valmiki where
the forest area has increased by up to 7 sq km.
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