As if the last surviving remnants of Goa’s green cover were not already under extreme duress, the State Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane (he also holds the health, town and country planning, urban development, and women and child development portfolios) set alarm bells ringing when he tweeted on August 11: “In a fruitful meeting with Shri Chandra Prakash Goyal, DG Forests & Special Secretary to the @moefc, he assured to assist us in transforming the Forests of Goa. With several proposals in the pipeline, we will lead the way in making Goa a wildlife destination.”
The previous day, Rane had met the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate change Bhupender Yadav, and said afterwards that “following the footsteps of an animal safari developed in Kevadia, we sought advice from the Union Minister to work closely with the ministry in developing a state-of-the-art animal safari in Goa.” His other proposals for “integrated development of wildlife habitat” include “enrichment plantation with fruit-bearing trees, creation and maintenance of forest roads, camping facilities in protected areas, and the creation of artificial watering holes in protected areas.”
Some context is required - the forest minister intends on intervening in India’s smallest state’s final intact stretches of the Western Ghats, which are part of one of just 12 remaining “biodiversity hotspots” in the world (there are only two in India). And the “animal safari” he wants to emulate in Goa is actually a zoo, classified as “infotainment” by the Statue of Unity project in Gujarat. Earlier this year, in the state assembly in Gandhinagar, the government admitted that 53 out of 163 animals brought to Kevadia were already dead.
“There is no aspect of these plans that can be considered environmentally sound or wildlife friendly,” says Prerna Singh Bindra, the distinguished conservationist and writer, who served on the National Board of Wildlife from 2010-2013. A frequent pre-pandemic visitor to Goa, she writes with great passion in her outstanding 2017 The Vanishing: India’s Wildlife Crisis about how she used to “soothe my weary soul (and) vanish into its less-visited interiors, trek its forests, kill time in sleepy villages, stroll beaches more visited by turtles than humans.”
But then, she says “I have seen the ravages: Beaches and villages covered in rotting trash, mountains flattened, forests stripped bare and replaced by red dust of mined ore, green fields, ponds and wetlands razed for hotels and gated colonies, turtle-nesting beaches overrun by resorts, shacks, cafes, bazaars.” Now that same calamitous “development model” is targeting the surviving jungles of Goa, she told me that “there is a huge disconnect here, with totally misplaced priorities. Where is the state’s wildlife management plan? Where is the assessment of carrying capacity? You can’t just say ‘Singapore has this. South Africa has this.’ None of that is appropriate for the Western Ghats.”
Parag Rangnekar – an Expert Member of the Goa State Biodiversity Board, and experienced wildlife tourism entrepreneur – agrees: “No special interfering in the Ghats is required at all. Goa is already an excellent wildlife destination with its own character unlike the wildlife destinations in Central or North India. It is popular as a birdwatching destination during winters, and during the monsoons has amazing macro diversity. What we need is cultivating the right kind of people to visit these areas and a positive narrative around wildlife (e.g. our State symbols displayed prominently when one steps out of the aircraft/train/bus). The success of a wildlife destination should not be measured solely based on footfalls.”
Rangnekar told me wildlife-oriented tourism in Goa must begin with six questions: “Do we want the coastal scene replicated in our hinterlands? Does the initiative integrate natural beauty and the daily life of rural communities in its offerings? Does it promote productive sustainable practices? Is it owned, maintained and controlled by local initiatives to strengthen local organisations? Does it integrate the local populace in the economic activity, and distribute benefits even-handedly? Has it worked out a carrying capacity/acceptability limit for itself?” After that, “if the answers are yes, then such development should happen.”
Instead of looking to Kevadia for inspiration, Rangnekar says “why should we even think of it? Artificial safaris are not what Goa should consider. One problem is that enclosures itself is an outdated idea, however large, and second is that our landscape is just not meant for safaris.
The herpetologist and wildlife photographer Nirmal Kulkarni is another Expert Member of the Goa State Biodiversity Board (and also has two decades of experience as one of the directors of the Chorla Ghat nature resorts Wildernest and Swapnagandha). He says that “any sort of development in a fragile and highly evolved ecosystem like the Western Ghats must be undertaken with considerable thought, planning and understanding of long-term implications. We must acknowledge the fact that all development - including sustainable development - alters the original forest ecosystem, and creates an impact that is irreversible.”
Kulkarni told me “all core areas within a Protected Area must be off limits for human activity that overlaps animal movement, behaviour and habitat change. Demarcation of tourism zones for nature watching and experiential wildlife tours must be done with a clear understanding that wildlife takes precedence over any human-centric use of forest resources. Calculations of carry capacity levels are also extremely important, and capping these at the policy level is critical at this juncture when we are thinking of opening up our forest ecosystems.”
His bottom line is “Ecotourism should aid wildlife and nature conservation, and not damage it irreversibly. Community-led initiatives are the key, where benefits are retained by the locals who dwell inside as well as on the fringes of our protected areas. We must use their expertise, and have a continuous dialogue with the Goa Forest Department (as custodians of the forests) and the communities, and the tourism industry itself to understand that this must remain a niche activity, and cannot be executed and practiced by the regular systems and norms of mass tourism.”
(Vivek Menezes is a writer and photographer and co-founder and co-curator of the Goa Arts and Literature Festival)