Tigers occupy an important place in Indian culture. For ages, it has been a symbol of magnificence, power, beauty and fierceness. It has been associated with bravery and will. One of the largest and strongest species, a conservation initiative of its kind in the world was launched in the year 1973 to promote the conservation of tigers in India. It was launched in nine reserves and has been expanded considerably to 51 tiger reserves. It was later also converted into a statutory authority ‘National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)’ to address the ecological as well as administrative concerns of conserving tigers.
Our achievements are known to the world and we have been recognized at the global level. Now we have more than 70 per cent of the global tiger population, our achievement is commendable. In 2010 at St Petersburg, the global community of tiger range countries committed to double the tiger numbers and we have already achieved it in 2018, four years in advance. As far as tiger numbers are concerned our annual increment of the tiger population is approximately on an average 6 per cent and as far as habitat is concerned it is our priority to secure as much area as possible where there is the potential for tiger conservation. Now we have 51 tiger reserves and more are in pipeline, so we want to secure more and more habitats. Tiger conservation is not only the protection of the tiger but it is umbrella species which protects the entire gamut of the ecosystem and other wildlife that the objective is being achieved by project tiger through NTCA.
Project Tiger encompasses a very large number of people, not just from the government but also from outside. People from communities, businesses, industries, corporate and media are the biggest contributors to this conservation of tigers. The support base is seen to be increasing in the younger generation and the knowledge of this aspect going out to different segments and facets of society is contributing in a larger sense to our country’s conservation and the environment. It is not that the other species are not important but the tiger for India is a sovereign species. Once the status of any national park and sanctuary is upgraded to tiger reserves then it enjoys the highest degree of protection under the Wildlife Protection Act. Problems like illicit tree felling and encroachments are rare and hence carbon sequestration is fully ensured in tiger reserves. From this year we are including a criterion to assess the preparedness of tiger reserves for climate change. Large water bodies are available in tiger reserves, so management of wetland, and conservation of aquatic flora and fauna which is also being prioritized in tiger reserves. All these steps will help in mitigating climate change through tiger reserves.
One of the biggest challenges today is poaching and it takes place because there is demand in other countries and its market-driven poaching. There are certain countries where tiger body parts are used and consumed in various forms in traditional medicines hence this demand-driven poaching takes place in our country. Along with poaching, human-tiger conflict is also the biggest challenge. The forest department has a difficult task right now to tackle and deal with the human-tiger conflict. Other challenges are natural disasters like fires in the forest, cyclones etc. The last challenge on priority is the human dependency on natural resources, a lot of poor people live in and around tiger reserves. Their daily need for fuel load, fodder, and fruits which they collect from the forest depend on these tiger reserves. So, there are challenges that forest officials are facing and are trying to manage through frontline staff and officers.
We have to find ways to reach out to these communities and these people who live on the peripheries. We need to compensate if they have had damages and bring some of them to the side of conservation because their knowledge of the area and the knowledge of the ground is greater than most of the agencies that are involved. They quite often understand the animals and their behaviour, it is not that they fear the tiger, they may have some other aspects that they worry about. So, these are some things that we need to take care of. We must not underestimate the role of protection provided by law and government, this is a key role because it helps to monitor what is happening on the ground. It helps to monitor and look for the periodic evaluation of an area which is under the control and thereby can bring out schemes of the government that may be beneficial for those areas. It’s a very large canvas, answers are fairly complex they are difficult but these have to be faced and let us say India is facing it and we are coming up with models which are progressive and better than what we may have had 25-30 years back.
As far as project tiger is concerned or the entire effort to conserve tiger, its habitat and other wildlife species, there have been marvellous achievements along the way, but there are challenges and those challenges remain. More out-of-the-box solutions will have to be thought about, specifically when we are talking about challenges which come along with the time like climate change. Of course, traditional issues like poaching and the wildlife-human conflict will have to be tackled effectively to ensure that tiger conservation and in turn habitat conservation and larger wildlife conservation are successful.
(The author is an Advocate by Profession)
