Since the early years of the last decade, the State has been aware that the tiger has been roaming the forests of the Western Ghats within the boundaries of Goa. The animal census of 2002 that was conducted by the State Forest Department showed the presence of the wild cat in the Mhadei forest area. Again, in the censuses that followed, in 2006 and in 2010, there was more evidence that the forests of the State did indeed have tigers, and then the camera trap methods of 2014, 2016 and 2017 further strengthened the argument that the tiger was not merely a visitor to the State that strayed in from Karnataka and Maharashtra. A fresh tiger census to start later this month will, hopefully, establish beyond any doubt that Goa is home to the tiger.
Yet, despite knowing all this and, in 2011 having received a letter from the Union Ministry for Environment and Forest (MoEF) asking the State to consider proposing the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary as a tiger reserve, little has been done till now to take this further. The government’s lackadaisical attitude towards tiger conservation and declaring a tiger reserve, led to another missive from the Ministry in 2014, renewing its request for a proposal. According to MoEF, the protected areas of Goa and their contiguous forests in Karnataka and Maharashtra are possibly some of the best tiger habitats in the Western Ghats and are in need of protection.
Against this background, the admission that the Goa is a tiger range state is a big step by the government that has finally taken steps towards declaring areas of the Mhadei, Mollem and Netravali wildlife sanctuaries, as a tiger reserve. The Forest Department is now working on a map that will specify areas that have the features of a tiger habitat and hence could be declared as a tiger reserve.
There is finally hope that the tigers of Goa will get this protection. Hope, because in the past, there have been statements, but the action has not been forthcoming.
A year ago, the Forest Department had confirmed the presence of five tigers in the Mhadei Wildlife sanctuary, and this had led to a fresh demand that the core area of the sanctuary be declared a tiger reserve. There had also been an alternative proposed that there be a joint collaboration between the neighbouring States of Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka towards tiger conservation. This proposal had been made by environmentalist Rajendra Kerkar who, being a member of the National Wildlife Board (NWB), had said he would present to the board the urgency involved in finalising some programme for tiger conservation in the State.
A year prior to that the then Forests Minister had said that the State was willing to protect the tiger and even declare Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary a tiger reserve to ensure the animal’s protection, if the census proved the presence of the wildcat. When the census report did come it confirmed the presence of five tigers but there was no action by the government.
The government needs to act fast on declaring a tiger reserve. The delay since the first letter from MoEF to the State has already extended to seven years, and the process to declare a reserve is also lengthy, so time is of the essence. With the socio-economic study along the Western Ghats region, with wildlife sanctuaries like Mhadei, Mollem, Netravali and Cotigao being the focus areas of the study completed, the government should now take the next step forward. A tiger reserve would also help protect the forests of Goa, preserving the biological and ecological reserves that make up the tiger habitat.
