The tiger is back in the news and the news is partially good. Partially, because a big cat has been caught on film by the camera trap method after almost a year since the previous one, and with this the demands for the creation of a tiger reserve have been renewed. There is now proof, by the camera trap method, that there are at least five tigers roaming the forests of Goa. Since 2011 the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has been asking the State to submit a proposal to declare the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary a tiger reserve.
The first letter from the MoEF had been written by then Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh and was sent to the Goa government then led by Digambar Kamat. There have been two elections in Goa after that and this is the third chief minister, but the proposal of a tiger reserve, that is supported by National Wildlife Board (NWB) and the National Tiger Conservation Authority, has not been taken forward.
With the latest sighting, and Forest Department confirming the presence of five tigers in the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary, environmentalist Rajendra Kerkar has demanded afresh that the core area of the sanctuary be declared a tiger reserve or, he has proposed an alternative, that there be a joint collaboration between the three neighbouring States of Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka towards tiger conservation. Being a member of the NBW, he has said that he will be presenting to the board the urgency involved in finalising some programme for tiger conservation in the State.
While a joint effort by the three States is an option, the first preference has to be for a tiger reserve in the State. Last year, in February, the then Forests minister Rajendra Arlekar had said that the State government was willing to protect the tiger in the State and even declare the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary a tiger reserve to ensure the big cat’s protection. He had added a rider to the assertion that the government would take up the reserve only if the reports of the ongoing census prove that the forests of Goa indeed are home to the tigers. The census is still on, but there is evidence that there are five tigers – one male, two females and two cubs – in the State. The final census report is yet to come, but the news is positive as the preliminary reports have confirmed tiger sightings, and if this government feels the same way on tiger reserves as the previous one, then Goa could have protection for the big cat that till now has been elusive.
That officially, there are five tigers in the State, is still not reason enough to motivate the government to act on the proposal sent by the MoEF to declare the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary a tiger reserve. It will soon be six years since the letter from the MoEF on the proposal for a tiger reserve had first come to the State in June 2011. This was followed up in 2014 with another reminder seeking a fresh proposal. The first that anyone in the Goa government showed any positive inclination towards this was Arlekar’s statement last year, and then it remained at that.
The process for declaration of a tiger reserve will take time, so the faster any move is made in this direction, the better it will be for the State and its tigers. A tiger reserve could also work to the State’s advantage as besides keeping the tigers safe from predators, it would also preserve the biological and ecological reserve that makes up the tiger habitat, besides getting Central funds that would go towards the maintenance and protection of the forest, amelioration of the habitat and eco-development of the people living in the buffer areas of the reserve.
