ATREE, Kalpavriksh, Nature Conservation Foundation, Council for Social Development and Samrakshan appeal to PM to save the tigers.

The two news stories below present the call for action from the concerned NGOs

Keep firms off tiger land

DH News Service, New Delhi

Worried about the dwindling tiger count, environmentalists have asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to declare areas around tiger reserves as “critical wildlife habitats”, which will be off-limit to the industry and businesses including hotels and tour operators.

Requesting the Prime Minister to secure tiger habitats against “destructive development”, they said in their letter that such notification would not allow projects like mining, big dams, expressways, industries, logging and urban infrastructure to come up near the forests.

There are provisions in the national environment policy which describe these spots as “sites with incomparable values” and in the Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers (recognition of forest rights) Act, 2006 that portrays such spots as “critical wildlife habitats”.

Another suggestion is to set up a sanctuary advisory committee, as mandated by the Wild Life Amendment Act 2003. No state has set up this panel so far, says the green outfits that include Kalpavriksha, Bangalore’s Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment and Mysore’s Nature Conservation Foundation.

According to the ongoing tiger census being conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India, the tiger count has gone down significantly in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattishgarh and Rajasthan compared to the last census. While these states accounted for 1,006 tigers in 2001-02, the count has gone down to 417 at the moment.

However, WII scientists claim that earlier census was based only on pug-marks, whereas the ongoing one is more scientific as it combines a number of technologies including camera trapping and scat DNA analysis. The tiger census for the entire country is likely to be completed by the end of 2007.

Filling up the vacancies in the forest department should also be a priority for the government to tide over the tiger crisis, they say, adding that recruitment of younger ground level staff in forest departments especially from local communities is required because of the hazardous and energetic nature of the job.

From the Deccan Herald, 21st June 2007 http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Jun212007/national200706208550.asp


Plea to Manmohan to save tigers

Special Correspondent NEW DELHI: Concerned over the depleting tiger population in the country, wildlife lovers and environmentalists have asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to issue a special statement that would facilitate a resolution at the next meeting of the National Development Council, and direct the State Governments to take measures concerning the issue.

Despite measures recommended by various committees, policy statements and the report of the Tiger Task Force, The action taken was inadequate, a joint letter to Dr. Singh pointed out. Figures of tiger population in central India, based on the ongoing study by the Wildlife Institute of India and National Tiger Conservation Authority, show the gravity of the crisis. The study shows that in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan, the tiger population estimates are down by 50 per cent.

Action needed
“We are dismayed over the initial reaction of the Ministry of Environment and Forests that these are not official figures when the WII is a Government institute. It is also disappointing to hear some State Governments continuing to claim that all is well in their tiger habitats. It is high time the Government accepted that there is a crisis. This is crucial to mobilise and motivate all rungs of the Central and State Governments, as also ordinary citizens, to take action,” the letter said.

The signatories to the letter are: Kalpavriksh, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment, Nature Conservation Foundation, Council for Social Development and Samrakshan.

From The Hindu, 21st June 2007
http://www.hindu.com/2007/06/21/stories/2007062150551300.htm

Contributed by Mr Samuel Thomas, ATREE's Communications Officer