Will banning tourism help or hinder tigers?

A petition in the Supreme Court, demanding that core areas in tiger reserves should be out of bounds for tourists, has drawn sharp critisism from wildlife conservationists. While the special leave petition argues that the core zone be kept inviolate as per the Wildlife Conservation Act, 1972, wildlife experts believe that tigers and tourism can co- exist, if planned well. The court, which will have its next hearing on 29 August will have a bearing not only on the future of big cats in India of which just 1706 exist, but also on the lives of local communities, tourist guides, hoteliers and every one who directly or indirectly depends on tiger tourism in the country. [caption id=“attachment_427278” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] Ajay Dubey, who advocates the petition, has said that wildlife tourism has a significant role in the drastic reduction of India’s tiger population. “All our demands find mention in the Wildlife Conservation Act. We just want its implementation. The Act does not favour tourism in core areas and says it should be kept inviolate for tiger conservation,” said Dubey, founder of Prayatna, a Bhopal based NGO. “It is a 1972 Act. Why was tourism in these zones not stopped all these years and that too when we have seen the tiger population dwindling all this while?” he added. Yet advocates of tiger tourism say that the regular presence of tourists and their support staff is a deterrent for poachers involved in the trading of tiger teeth, skin and bones, which is a business worth millions of dollars. “Along with forest officials, tourists provide the additional eyes and ears to keep poachers away. That benefits wildlife for sure,’ said Belinda Wright, founder, Wildlife Protection Society of India, a Delhi based non- profit organization working for tiger conservation. Wright added that a complete lack of human presence in the core zones would mean no surveillance and would give poachers easy access to tigers by co- opting forest officials. Another reason why tiger tourism should continue, according to wildlife conservationists, is the direct bearing it has on the lives of villagers living inside the core areas. No human habitation in core zone also means the relocating of local communities. “Rather than banning wildlife tourism or severely restricting, it should be regulated ensuring that tigers live in harmony with the villagers. Tourism is good for tigers if done responsibly,” said Ashok Kumar, trustee, Wildlife Trust of India, Delhi based non profit consevation organisation. Nature-based tourism in Indian Protected Areas: New Challenges for Park Management’ – a joint study done by Krithi K Karanth of Centre for Wildlife Studies, Bangalore and Ruth DeFries of Columbia University shows that less than 0.001 per cent of polulation residing within 10 kilometers of protected area find employment in the tourism industry. ( Access PDF Link here) The study gathered data from 10 protected areas. However, a study conducted by the Madhya Pradesh Ecotourism Development Board showed that of the total workforce in tourism industry at Tala, a small village near Bandhavgarh National Park, 62 per cent were locals. They were found engaged in unorganized sector- drivers, cooks and guides. National Wildlife Conservation Act requires states to notify buffer and core zones in tiger reserves. A protected area around the reserve, buffer zone is where local communities coexist with the protected wildlife. Out of 41 tiger reserves in the country, notification of 25 was done before the matter came to Supreme Court. It did the rest in accordance with court orders. On 23 July, the Supreme Court issued an interim ban on tourism in core areas of tiger reserves and extended it for a week on Wednesday. The interim ban is based on the ‘Guidelines for Ecotourism in and around Protected Areas’ filed by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). The guidelines were in sync with the recommendations of Tiger Task Force 2005 which defined core/critical wildlife habitats as such areas that needed to be kept inviolate for tiger conservation without affecting the rights of Scheduled Tribes or forest dwellers. But the ministry took a U- turn on Tuesday saying that it has received inputs from various states and it wanted time to review the guidelines after consultations with all stakeholders. “The states have expressed concern that many local people depend on tourism for their livelihood and hence stoppage of tourism in core areas of tiger reserves would result in loss of such income leading to discontent which may be a threat to wildlife and forests. Besides, the common citizen would be deprived of an opportunity to appreciate our natural heritage,” said the National Tiger Conservation Authority which functions under MoEF.