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Narmada Rashmi
Narmada Rashmi Twilight Where Communities Care Riding the Tiger Tracking Tigers Three Years and Beyond Wild Tigers of Ranthambhore The Rhino Foundation Newsletter Buceros
Not that our powers-that-be need excuses for destroying wildlife habitats. The Prime Minister of India, ignoring his role as Chairman of the Indian Board for Wildlife, laid the foundation stone of the Parbati Hydel Project in Himachal Pradesh (see Himachal Pradesh, below). According to us, this was an illegal act, as the project has not even been given environmental clearance as yet. But it is also shocking because this Project was the reason for the partial denotification of the Great Himalayan National Park (See PA Update 21), one of the last large wildlife habitats left in the state. Sadly, however, there are just not enough NGOs and activists in Himachal to take up the issue (as also the related issue of a rather insensitive process of settling people's rights in that Park).
Mixed signals have emanated from Melghat Tiger Reserve, with important lessons for all those working on people's rights and relocation in the context of PAs. A very good meeting of villagers, forest and administration officials, and NGOs, took place in Bori village, in which several points were agreed to. In November, however, soon after the meeting, settlement notices were issued not only to Bori but also to the villages, Kund and Koha admitting claims only over agricultural land, cattle sheds and houses, ignoring in the process all other customary rights to the forests like those for grazing, fuelwood, medicinal plants, leaves, fruits, bamboo and other non-timber forest produce. Even the assurances given to women regarding access to the forest resources in the meeting were ignored. An important and positive process could thus get unfortunately derailed (see below, Maharashtra).
Finally, the country seems to be on a major 'national action plan' binge (see NATIONAL NEWS FROM INDIA). The National Forestry Action Plan was put out in late 1999, the National Wildlife Action Plan is being finalised, and preparation of a National Biodiversity Action Plan is just being initiated. How many will lead to actual action, one will have to wait and see over the next few years.It has also reported that the illegal immigrants of the Lisu tribe from Myanmar were posing a threat to the park due to encroachments and poaching. A number of attacks the Lisu tribals on the forest staff have also been reported in the last one year.The group has also asked that the construction of the road from Miao to Vijoynagar which mostly passes through the national park should be handed over to the management of the park, instead of the Arunachal Pradesh PWD. They have also opposed the construction of a bridge at Deban on the Noadihing river inside the park because of the disturbance that it will cause to the wildlife in the area.The vacation notices, copies of which were given to the minister were served between November 2 and 13, 1999. They reportedly asked the maldharis to vacate the forest within a fortnight . The organisations which made the representation to the minister are theMaldhari Sangharsh Samiti, Sasan, Saurashtra Paryavaran Sanrakshan Parishad, Junagadh and SETU, Ahmedabad. According to the groups there has been little or no investment or efforts for people who don't wish to relocate. In Junagadh west division alone, only 45 of a total of 184 families here have been declared permanent occupants. The other 97 have been categorised illegal and the rest 42 as non permanent.Meanwhile the Forest Department is trying hard for the voluntary resettlement of the maldharis. It has admitted in its document titled 'The Gir', that the maldharis are very apprehensive about the resettlement programme as some relocated families could not do well in agriculture 
they now work as labourers in other farmer's fields Deputy Conservator of Forests at Sasan, Mr. BP Pati further admits that the response to the pilot project, under which a couple of families have been shifted has not been encouraging. The response in the 54 settlements across the sanctuary and national park too have not been positive.
Forest officials have also reportedly convinced two hundred families of Sasan, a village in the Gir Sanctuary, to switch from firewood to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). This means that fewer trees will be felled in the sanctuary. Most houses have been given a gas connection and are being encouraged to use solar cookers and gobar gas. The Forest Department hopes to get all 74 villages in the sanctuary to switch to LPG.
As another part of the eco-development project, the Sasan Gir wildlife division has awarded a first-of -its-kind project on inventory and conservation status of major plant taxa in Gir, to the MS University's Dept. of Botany.Sponsored by the WB, the project would develop two sets of Gir forest herbarium, one of which will be handed over to the forest department. In an interesting observation, Prof Senan of the Dept of Botany says that of late, the forest in Gir has shown signs of transition from being dry deciduous to moist deciduous, caused by protection to the core area.SETU, 1, Punyaslok, Near Liberty Bus Stop, University Road, Ahmedabad - 380009, Gujarat. Tel: 0272-6560751A Gujarat Forest Department brochure however says that the GIZ has been closed down due to its effects on the lions and the staff. However this appears to be untrue as during the recent Navratri- Diwali vacation, thousands of visitors virtually clogged the road to Devalia. During this period the GIZ was also kept open on the weekly holiday of Wednesday to cater to the holiday rush, earning the facility a substantial sum of revenue.There are also reports that the heavy rush of visitors has affected the behaviour of the lions and they have become disoriented and irritable.Experts also fear that such regular small and big leaks will eventually lead to irreperable damage to the fragile ecology of the area which fosters many rare species of coral and hundreds of other marine species and mangrove forests. They also point out that crucial mangrove forests are the worst hit and that this will also adversely affect the fishing industry in the area. The State Fisheries minister Babubhai Bokhiria has claimed that the fish catch in the last few years has already gone down by 2 lakh tons along the Saurashtra coast and particularly off the Jamnagar and Veraval coasts. The fishing industry, including direct and ancillary, between Okha and Jakhau is reportedly worth Rs. 700 crore per year at the present.There has been a move in the recent past to denotify parts of the park for some of the proposed industrial projects in the area (See PA Updates 21 and 22). Recently the Sultan of Oman too has brought pressure on the Gujarat Government for the clearance of the Bharat Oman Refinery Ltd. (BORL) which is to carry crude from Oman to Binain Madhya Pradesh. The Gujarat government is reportedly sitting on the environmental clearance of the project for two reasons. First, the pipeline passes through the Marine National Park and; second, it sees the BORL as a leverage for bargaining hard with Madhya Pradesh on the Narmada project.Chief Wildlife Warden, Gujarat, Block 14, Dr, Jivraj Mehta Bhavan, Old Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Tel: 02712-30007. Fax: 21097.
Protest letters to the PM this time also pointed out that the laying of the foundation stone of the project would be an illegal act as the environmental clearance for the project had not been obtained. Additionally he would be ignoring his own role as the Chairperson of the Indian Board for Wildlife (IBWL), as the denotified area of the GHNP and the areas to the north where dams and tunnels are to be built for the project are vital wildlife habitats.
Neelu Sharma, as above.
On another occasion in December, the State Social Welfare Minister, Mr. Kagodu Thimmappa said that the tribals inside the park should move out and accept the rehabilitation provided to them by the government. He was speaking after an inspection of the Veeranahosalli rehabilitation camp in Hunsur taluk where 50 tribal families from the Nagarhole National Park (from Kodagu) were reportedly rehabilitated recently. (For the controversy related to this please see 'Controversies in Nagarhole NP, PA Update 22)800 acres of land is to be acquired at Ramnagar in the midst of the Dandeli Sanctuary-Supa Dam-Londe-Nagargali-Khanapur-Castle Rock Reserved Forests for the 300MW power project of the Kalyanis at Ramnagar. The Mahadei project is expected to submerge another 5000 acres of the prime, evergreen forests in the area.
Theseprojects will make a mockery of the Karnataka Forest Department's public announcement of the formation of the ecologically sensitive zone comprising these areas of the Western Ghats.Conservationists have pointed out that the decision of the government to divert money to retrieve lost tracts of habitats where wildlife is on the verge of extinction, rather than focussing on the conservation of the existing forest tracts in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve encompassing Mudumalai, Bandipur, Wynad and Nagarhole, defies logic.Bandipur National Park had been pooling the Rs. 50 lakhs each it received under Project Tiger and Project Elephant for its management. Now with half the funds not available various activities like the digging of 'Elephant Proof Trenches' and erecting solar powered fences had been slowed down.Field Director, Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Aranya Bhavan, Ashokapuram, Wood Yard, Mysore - 570008, Karnataka.
Both the State and Central Governments are in favour of extending the lease because of the economic and technological value of the operations. However, environmental groups in the area are opposed to further mining citing the damaging effects it could have on the Western Ghats. (See PA Updates 21 and 22). A large number of farmers cultivating land inside the park have also appealed to the government not to allow the company to extend its mining to fresh areas within the park. They have claimed that mining has already harmed the soil, water resources and wildlife of the area.
Meanwhile, the State Forest Department has issued a notification for the declaration of the entire area from Sasme to Kollur as a National Park and the process of settling the objections, rights and claims of the residents has commenced. Along with some people living in and around the national park, the KIOCL has submitted a statement of objection to the Assistant Commissioner (AC), appealing for the exclusion of the Nellibeedu and Gangrikal areas from the purview of the park.
According to another related report, KIOCL which was the first core sector company to be started with part international funding, is now looking for international partners such as the Chinese and the Japanese. It is said that the KIOCL will become a joint venture after the proposed two phase disinvestment of the stocks.Vinay Madhav. 'Kudremukh Co may face rough weather', Indian Express, 09/11/99.Chief Wildlife Warden - Karnataka, Aranya Bhavan, 2nd Floor, 18th Cross, Malleshwaram, Bangalore - 560003, Karnataka. Tel: 080-3341993. Fax: 3346389.The success of the of the scheme is evident from the increase in the savings bank accounts in the nearby Kumily town. where 204families from the tribal settlements have opened accounts in the Idukki District Co-Op Bank. Kanger Ghati has seen a lot of tree felling in the last few years, and this has aided the rapid spread of the weed. Incidently the tribals here do not yet have a local name for this plant. The Forest Department too is trying hard to eradicate this weed and special financial allocations too have been made for the purpose.Wildlife experts however expressed concern at this move of the state government and were extremely critical of the plans to allow fishing in the Ken river. They have also pointed out that the concept of the African Safari cannot be emulated in Madhya Pradesh since the character of the forests is different in these two different parts of the world, the forests here being of the tropical kind whereas the vegetation there is largely of the savanah type.In the first phase only Bori would be considered for rehabilitation, while the villages of Koha and Kund would be considered only after the rehabilitation of Bori is successful and the other two villages are convinced about it. A joint committee comprising the government, NGOs and the villagers themselves will be set up to discuss and monitor this process in Bori.In November, however, settlement notices were issued to three villages, Kund, Koha and Bori, admitting claims only over agricultural land, cattle sheds and houses. Kalpavriksh has sent a letter to the concerned authorities pointing to the decisions taken in the meeting in Bori and the fact all other customary rights to the forests like those for grazing, fuelwood, medicinal plants, leaves, fruits, bamboo and other non-timber forest produce etc. were being ignored. In another meeting held at Chikaldhara in December, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Vilasrao Deshmukh discusseda number of developmental schemes for the Melghat region. These included the widening of roads, desilatation of 150 ponds and lakes in Melghat, the establishment of a power generating station at Chikaldhara and, reportedly, the rehabilitation of six villages from the Tiger reserve area.Nisargavedh has also prepared a plan for the promotion of jute bags and their volunteers have been trying to convince the local shopkeepers of the benefits of these bags over those of plastic and have even distributed about two dozen of these among the locals. They are presently looking for funds to extend this project of theirs.The encroachers occupy five acres on a plot at the foot of the Yeoor hills. Apart from 100 odd commercial establishments, there are three illegal four-storey buildings and 340 pucca hutments.The High Court order allowing the Forest Dept to demolish the encroachments had been passed on July 11, 1999 following a petition filed by the Bombay Environmental Action Group in 1995 (See PA Update 22).
While there was widescale destruction along the coast, the area around Dangmal in Bhitarkanika sanctuary was one of the few areas to have survived the fury of the Orissa cyclone. The reason is that it was protected by the extensive mangrove forests of the area. It is also being suggested that mangrovere-forestation should be taken up along the coastal belt and the state government is reported drawing up a plan for the same.Meanwhile the sea turtle conservation program, Operation Kachhapa has been assisting in carrying out emergency relief work in the cyclone devastated areas.
Belinda Wright on email dated 11/11/99
Regulated inflow of fresh water through rivers and nallahs and reduced ingress of sea-water from the Bay of Bengal have been changing the character of the lake. Salinity, the main factor facilitating growth in the productivity of fish and prawn, has reduced in the lagoon due to therestricted flow of sea water even during high tide.
The study revealed that the lagoon is under severe physical, chemical and biological strain due to natural and human interventions. The indiscriminate tampering of river courses has markedly reduced the monsoon discharge into the lake, and deposition of silt has increased. Accumulation of silt has elevated the bed of the lagoon by22% in the past six years, thus reducing the water-holding capacity.
In April, a forest guard, Bhagaban Majhi, was killed by the mafia members in the same forest when he refused to release seized timber and buffaloes. Another forest guard had been killed in Nayagarh this year.
Lack of fire arms and vehicles and shortage of staffhas crippled the forest administration thereby encouraging smugglers to enter the forest and smuggle out timber worth crores ofrupees.Field Director, Sariska TR, Dist. Alwar, Rajasthan..'
The lease inside the sanctuary expired on the 18th of December 1999, and it is hoped that it will not be renewed further. Indeed the Addl.IGF (Wildlife), Mr. SC Sharma has already written to the Secretary (Forests), Rajasthan confirming that all mining must cease on the expiry of the lease.
A public hearing on the issue of mining here had also been organised in December 1998 by the Tarun Bharat Sangh.(See 'Public Hearing at Jamwa Ramgarh Sanctuary and Sariska Tiger Reserve', JPAM Update 19)
KCC has implemented a successful small-scale biodiversity conservation project with financial support from Darwin initiative and facilitation from CEE and FSC. The project was to promote community based ecotourism in the Kanchendzonga National Park (KNP) and one of the main target groups of the project were the porters who are critical for the tourism industry here. A booklet for the porters containing information about the park and various do's and don'ts has also been produced. The draft booklet was released at the workshop and is to be field tested. It is also going to be sent to all important organisations in India and Nepal for comments.The main objectives of the proposed policy are ensuring environmental stability, preserving natural forests, conserving genetic resources, ensuring better water harnessing, promoting agro-forestry and meeting the basic needs of local people on a sustainable basis. The draft declares that 'forests should not be looked upon as a source of revenue' and that no forest land should be used for the production of industrial raw material. It is proposed that all encroachers inside the forests will be evicted and that no encroachments will be regularised. It also calls for the establishment of a separate directorate with a specific mandate to determine forest settlement claims with a period of five years.The policy also calls for bringing in ecologically sensitive areas of the Eastern Ghats under the Protected Areas System of Management and for detailed investigation and inventorisation of the flora and fauna in catchment areas such as the Nilgiris Biosphere region, the Theni - Meghamalai region (catchment area of the Valpai) and the Agasthiamalai region.
The port project results in sand erosion along fishing villages, posing a danger to the livelihood of the people in the area. The expert committee of Coastal Action Network (CAN) found the difference in temperature of water at the outlets of the thermal unit exceeded by five degrees. Further, adjacent to the port, effluent water was directly let into the sea.
The committee contended that the site of the Ennore port fell within CRZ I classification and that the Pulicat lake had been designated a no development zone. The sand dunes between the sea and the lake were slowly getting eroded and the water flow of the Ennore Creek had been 'restricted' due to the port.
The team also said that the proposed Petro Park would require over 45 million litres of water a day and that the coastal aquifers that yielded potable water and the wetland in Kattupalli and nearby areas, would become saline once the park was established. Soluble material from fly ash could seep into the ground and affect the water table and dust particles could affect the ambient air quality. The fly ash settling on leaves of plants and trees would affect photosynthesis.
In another development within the sanctuary, a check dam has been constructed near the Adivasi Colony. Two more such structures will be createdprimarily to stop sea water intrusion into the sanctuary and salt infiltrationinto the potable water sources. A memorandum signed by more than 100 people was submitted to the government for the eviction of the nearby salt chemical factory. The effluents from the factory have caused considerable damage to the animal habitat in the sanctuary. The memorandum also urged the government to check all attempts to encroach upon the vast stretches of the Great Vedaranyam Swamp for setting up salt and chemical industries.
The FD has also prepared an ambitious plan to artificially regenerate mangrove forests in some of these areas, subject to approval of the revenue department and their cooperation in the eviction of encroachments. There is also a plan for a survey and demarcation of the entire Great Vedaranyam Swamp, once considered as one of the best bird habitats in the area.
The Singara Power Project and the Pykara Ultimate Stage Hydro Electric Project have also resulted in a lot of disturbance here.
The Forest Department has identified some areas on the eastern part of the sanctuary for transfer to the sanctuary, but the state government is known to be considering the establishment of a 'Samathuvapuram' (casteless village) near Mavanallah.On several occasions in the past, forest officials and the field staff have raised the problem of their being 'totally helpless', against the well armed and established mafia. A number of cases of brutal attacks on forest staff have been reported in the last few years from the Dehradun and the Hardwar regions.' SWT's primary goal is to work with local governmental and non-governmental organisations in India to save the tiger. They would like to be contacted by appropriate on-site organisations involved in tiger conservationthat are able to accept foreign exchange.
Poachers have burned down almost two thirds of the grasslands of the 30,821 hectares Uda Walawe National Park, which has created a scarity of food for the elephant population here. This devastation, if unabated, would lead to the migration of elephants into the villages in search of food and further the problems of man-elephant conflicts. The Director of the park also expressed a need for at least another 50 wildlife staff members. Narmada Rashmi Twilight Kothari, A., Pathak, N., and Vania F. Where Communities Care: Community Based Wildlife and Ecosystem Management in South Asia. IIED and Kalpavriksh; Evaluating Eden Series No. 3. In press. Indian edition Rs. 100. Eds. Seidensticker, J., Jackson, P., and Christie, S. Riding the Tiger: Tiger Conservation in Human Dominated Landscapes". Cambridge University Press (1999). Singh LAK. Tracking Tigers.. WWF - Tiger Conservation Programme,(TCP) New Delhi, 1999 Tiger Conservation Programme; Three Years and Beyond. WWF - Tiger Conservation Programme, New Delhi, 1999. Rathore F.S., Thapar, V. Wild Tigers of Ranthambhore, Oxford University Press, 2000. The Rhino Foundation For Nature in NE India Buceros. Envis Newsletter: Avian Ecology and InlandWetlandsI am of the opinion that large scale, widespread and indiscriminate provisioning of water will actually have negative effects in the long run. Management actions are symptom driven. Animals are observed outside the PA boundaries, possibly drinking water from agricultural fields and this is taken as evidence for shortage of water within the PA. If water and nutritious forage are available adjoining to the PA, animals are bound to come out irrespective of water availability within the PA. Only if there is a consistent and drastic decrease then we can claim that the management action was needed and it has succeeded. Disease and vaccination should be a routine and continous management practice. All efforts should be made to reduce the contact between domestic and wild animals and this should not be done only during the drought.| |
Last modified on: Tue Apr 5 15:39:59 2005