By IANS
New Delhi : Reviewing measures to preserve the tiger population in the wildlife parks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said a scientific methodology was desirable for the tiger census as against the conventional pugmark method.
Examining the slew of measures the government had brought in to revitalize Project Tiger with wildlife enthusiasts, forest officials and conservationists Wednesday, Manmohan Singh was informed that the final report of the tiger census would be ready by October.
The review meeting was specially called after the initial findings of a national tiger census in May revealed that India’s tiger population was fast depleting in several reserves in northern and central India.
A count in 16 reserves in central Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh states, western Maharashtra and northern Rajasthan and their surrounding areas showed depletion of up to 50 percent, according to officials of the Wildlife Institute of India.
Depleted natural habitats and rampant poaching were cited as the main reasons behind the disappearing tigers. Poaching was spurred by a thriving trade in tiger skin and parts in China and Southeast Asia where they are used for robes and for preparing traditional medicines.
“In an effort to revitalize Project Tiger the government has created an autonomous National Tiger Conservation Authority with effective powers. The government has also sanctioned the National Wild Life Crime Control Bureau aimed at strengthening anti-poaching activity,” said a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office Thursday.
The prime minister called for time bound action to relocate 270 villages in the critical core areas in sanctuaries based on attractive packages offered to villagers. He also directed that states be requested to fill vacancies of frontline staff urgently.
Wildlife enthusiasts believe tiger numbers had dwindled drastically. In the 2003 census their number stood at 3,700 and they now fear it could be just about 1,000.
Other follow-up measures discussed at the meeting included strengthening protection and anti-poaching activity through a Tiger Protection Force of local residents and ex-servicemen.
“The efforts of the Wild Life Crime Control Bureau and the forest departments of states can be augmented by local residents working under the supervision of ex-servicemen as a Tiger Protection Force in selected sanctuaries,” said the statement.
Manmohan Singh pointed out that it would be effective to develop a model where ex-servicemen train and create a tiger protection force using local, mostly tribal residents in nearby villages, thereby providing them with income opportunities and create a bond between them and the park. This could be piloted in major tiger sanctuaries.
Another measure discussed was the creation of a Park Development Fund (PDF) and Park Development Committee (PDC) for each wildlife sanctuary. A model for this already exists in the Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh.
The PDC could enlist local leadership and wildlife activists and could use money from the PDF. Another suggestion by Minister of State for Forests S. Regupathy was that a Forest Modernization Fund be set up on the lines of the Police Modernization Fund.
Further, it was felt that wildlife sensitisation should be made part of the education curriculum and a planned exposure initiated for children and youth to tiger sanctuaries.