Conserving our varied heritage

Conserving our varied heritage

Pankaj Sekhsaria
First Published : 29 Jan 2011 09:57:00 AM IST
http://expressbuzz.com/magazine/conserving-our-varied-heritage/242849.html

The Western Ghats are, without doubt, one of the richest eco-regional systems in the entire subcontinent. Straddling six states from Gujarat in the north to Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the south, the 1,600-odd km long mountain range extends from the River Tapti in the north to Kanyakumari at the southernmost tip of the Indian landmass. They are home to a wide diversity of life just as they support innumerable human communities and cultures. It is a mountain range with a history of nearly 50 millions years, with only the last 12,000 to 15,000 years having seen the gradual entry here of the human species.

The beauty of the landscapes here is unmatched, endemism in the forests is high and nearly 250 million people living in peninsular India are nourished by the many rivers that originate here. The forests here are also home to more than 300 globally threatened species including rare and unique ones like the Malabar torrent toad, the Nilgiri langur, Wroughton’s free-tailed bat, the Nilgiri laughing thrush and many species of caecelians, the limbless amphibians. Conservative estimates put the number of microorganisms, plants and animals here at about 15,000, 40 per cent of which are found nowhere else in the world.

Serious challenges

It is with good reason that the ghats have been recognised as one of the world’s top 34 biodiversity hotspots and a large number of protected areas dot their length. There are nearly 60 sanctuaries and national parks here, ranging from the tiny 4 square kilometres Karnala Sanctuary in the Raigad district of Maharashtra, to others that extend over hundreds of sq km like the Bandipur NP in Karnataka and the Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary in the Anaimalais of Tamil Nadu. The region has over 60 important bird areas and also a number of areas designated as tiger and elephant reserves for the protection and conservation of two of the subcontinent’s most charismatic mega fauna.

This richness and wealth notwithstanding, the Western Ghats face a range of serious and complex challenges: there is unregulated mining in large parts; a number of rivers have been (or continue to be) dammed resulting in the loss of riverine ecosystems and the submergence of pristine forests; a rapidly growing network of roads and rail lines is fragmenting the patchwork of existing forests; continued habitat loss due to urbanisation, agriculture and plantations is leading to an alarming rise in human-wildlife conflicts; and tribal communities like those in Nilgiris continue to face increased marginalisation, loss of access to resources and livelihoods. It is estimated that only a third of the mountain range is still under natural vegetation and this too, is highly fragmented and completely degraded. For the ghats that are spread over an area 1,60,000 sq km and support millions of people and heads of livestock, this is only to be expected.

Conservation efforts

The Western Ghats is perhaps the most-studied eco-system in the country, and has had the maximum number of initiatives and efforts towards conservation directed at it. The mountain range has also been lucky in that there have always been vibrant local communities, NGOs, researchers and officials who have continued to engage with the complexities and work with the challenges of this unique system.

There have been, in recent times, a number of small, localised efforts that are

extremely heartening: children in schools in the vicinity of the Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary in Maharashtra demanding that plastic be banned from within sanctuary limits; the creation of 12 new Important Bird Areas in Kerala; efforts to bring down deaths in traffic accidents inside forest areas either by banning traffic like in Bandipur and Nagarhole National Parks or by strictly regulating it in many other forests areas; new public private initiatives to secure corridor forests so that animals can move without hindrance and a number of awareness and environment education activities across the entire region.

Significantly, there are a range of programmes that have an appeal and relevance cutting across state and political boundaries. A large conservation research and action initiative is being implemented under the aegis of the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund; the iconic Save Western Ghats Movement that was initiated two decades ago is on the way to being revived; a new Nilgiri Natural History Society has been formed; the creation of the Sahyadri Ecological Authority has been mooted and the ministry of environment and forests’ expert panel on the Western Ghats has been working to ‘assist in the preservation, conservation and rejuvenation of this environmentally sensitive and ecologically significant region.’

In another commendable development a few months ago, the minister of environment and forests, Jairam Ramesh, organised a special meeting of 43 Members of Parliament from the 51 districts which have the Western Ghats running through them.

It has been argued often that if political constituencies had been carved out on ecological or even eco-regional criteria, politics would have been different. Ecological systems, be they mountain ranges, river systems or the coast often get looked at in a piecemeal manner. The integrity of what is a single unit is completely overtaken by other considerations and the consequences have only been adverse. The minister’s initiative could well be the starting point of a better, more holistic approach.

To say however, that things will suddenly be better now in the Western Ghats, would be putting the cart much ahead of the horse. The challenges, needless to say, are daunting. Speaking at the inaugural session of the 13th Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of the Commons in Hyderabad in the first week of January, Ramesh argued that the country will have to make trade-offs between attaining 9-10 per cent economic growth and maintaining an ecological balance. The more pertinent question is being asked by those who are being ‘traded off’. In the Western Ghats, this has been most starkly visible in the controversy surrounding the nuclear power park at Jaitapur in Maharashtra. Local people here are strongly opposed to the project that they claim will destroy their livelihoods as also the environment that sustains them. There are many other such examples.

It is in this extremely complex and sometimes charged context that the conservation initiatives have to deliver. It is only with this mixture of apprehension and hope that the Western Ghats can look towards the future.


Forests in the Nilgiri Mountains, Tamil Nadu


Gaur in the small remnant forests of Longwood Shola close to Kotagiri in the Nilgiris


A ready to be harvested banana crop is destroyed by elephants in the Nilgiris


Tree felling in the catchment area of the dam on the Sharavathi river in Uttara Kannada, Karnataka


The Bhimashankar Temple in the Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary in Maharashtra. In the background are the forests of the sacred grove


River Aghanashini as seen from the crest of the Western Ghats in Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka



— The writer is an environmental researcher, writer and photographer. psekhsaria@gmail.com
All photos by Pankaj Sekhsaria

Is the government’s cheetah programme sound?

Is the government’s cheetah programme sound?
http://expressbuzz.com/opinion/op-ed/is-the-government%E2%80%99s-cheetah-programme-sound/229834.html

Pankaj Sekhsaria
First Published : 10 Dec 2010 11:13:00 PM IST


Do we want the cheetah back? If the Ministry of Environment and Forest’s (MoEF) ambitious programme for the reintroduction of this animal into the country is anything to go by, the question has already been answered. A recent assessment conducted by the MoEF, the Wildlife Institute of India and the Wildlife Trust of India has identified the Kuno-Palpur and Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuaries in Madhya Pradesh and the Shahgarh Landscape in Jaisalmer for the introduction. An estimated `300 crore will be spent initially on the project and potential sources for the animals are also being explored. It’s quite likely that the cheetahs, if they come, will be either from Namibia or South Africa. The project has the whole-hearted support of the minister in charge, Jairam Ramesh and the ball for the cheetah’s return to India is clearly on the roll now.

There is a more fundamental question, however, that has no clear answers yet — why? Why do we want the cheetah back? The rationale provided has been two-fold. The first this is what Ramesh himself articulated sometime back — to regain a part of the lost glory and history of this country. The magnificent cheetah that was once a living, bounding part of this nation’s reality must be brought back. The other, as has been pointed by some wildlife experts, is that the cheetah, like the tiger, is the apex species of the grassland habitat and it’s presence would, both, indicate and ensure the health of this badly abused ecosystem.

Writing in the recent issue of the wildlife magazine Sanctuary Asia, M K Ranjitsinh, doyen of Indian wildlife conservation and a prime mover of the cheetah reintroduction project has argued that, “The cheetah restoration will be part of a prototype for restoration of original cheetah habitats and their biodiversity, helping to stem the degradation and rapid loss of biodiversity…” He also notes that re-introducing the cheetah will help to save other threatened grassland-scrub-open woodland species such as the caracal, Indian wolf, the desert cat, the Great Indian Bustard and the Lesser Florican.

Prima facie the arguments seem valid, but if looked at carefully, both have serious problems. It is certainly important to realise, for instance, that grassland habitats are extremely productive systems that are both undervalued and abused. They have to be protected and cared for and we have to find ways of doing it. Arguing, however, that we need an introduction from Africa to enable us to set our house in order is akin to putting the cart before the horse. There are far simpler and effective ways to do it if we have the common sense and political will for it. It is also an extremely unfortunate part of our history that this glorious animal was shot into extinction nearly six decades ago. The scarier reality is that many species of plants, birds and animals stand today on the verge of joining the cheetah into that void called extinction.

Flagship programmes — Project Tiger and Project Elephant, for instance, face serious challenges and some might even say that they are floundering. The most recent case of the death of the translocated tiger in Sariska Tiger Reserve is an excellent example of the many challenges that have to be faced. How prudent would it then be to get into something new without ensuring the success of what we already have on hand?

There is another worrisome aspect of the project that has come to light only recently. The introduction of the cheetah is going to be mounted on the back of displacement of people in the areas where the reintroduction is being planned.

Eighty seasonally used human settlements of 5-10 households each will have to be relocated from the Shahgarh landscape and 23 human settlements will have to be moved from the Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary. Three will also be moved from Kuno Palpur in addition to the 23 that were moved a few years ago for the reintroduction of the lion from Gujarat.

Now, anyone who follows wildlife conservation in India knows that this landscape is littered with huge issues of conflict. Millions of people living in and around our protected areas face the sword of displacement or experience constant harassment and denial of basic livelihood resources in the name of wildlife conservation. Not surprisingly there is considerable opposition to wildlife conservation by local communities and there are many such fires burning in different parts of the country. Our job should be to work towards extinguishing these fires, not lighting up one more for an animal we didn’t have the wisdom to save when we had it in our midst. Rather than spending huge amounts of time, human resources, energy and money towards an ‘esoteric’ bringing back of the ‘dead’, the effort has to be concentrated on preventing it happening again — with other species. That would be a far more worthwhile and valuable endeavour. We can’t undo the extinctions we have caused already. Let the fate of cheetah be a grim pointer to that reality.

CONSERVATION AT THE CROSSROADS- Beyond cliches and the obvious

Expressbuzz
Sunday, November 14, 2010 8:27 PM IST

'CONSERVATION AT THE CROSSROADS' by Dr. Ghazala Shahabuddin.
Review by Pankaj Sekhsaria

Beyond cliches and the obvious
http://expressbuzz.com/books/beyond-cliches-and-the-obvious/222532.html

Pankaj Sekhsaria

Wildlife conservation in India is an extremely complex and intricate matter, related as it is to the fate of thousands of species of plants and animals and also the millions of humans who live in or are dependant on landscapes that are critical for conservation. The matrix is a complex one and to say that conservation in a rapidly changing India is at a crossroads is as much a cliché as a statement of the obvious.

'Conservation at the Crossroads' by Dr Ghazala Shahabuddin manages to go beyond both, the clichés and the obvious, in a contemporary account of conservation that is timely and well-informed. Spread over eight chapters, the book explores the different paradigms that either exist, are being attempted or might indeed be possible. The central debate in conversation in India, as it has been all over the world, is over the exclusionary paradigm — keeping out people from areas where wildlife should rule the roost. Various arguments have been put forth in favour and against this over the years and Shahabuddin shows that while this is crucial, it is not the only debate that we need to have.

Having said that and in spite of making a claim to the contrary, the book does end up treating strict conservation in protected areas (wildlife sanctuaries and national parks) and initiatives of community conservation asymmetrically. Where protected areas (PAs) are concerned, the problems outlined are located entirely in the broad domain of ‘management’ (lack of resources, personnel, training etc). In dealing with communities that are conserving on their own account, meanwhile, a question mark hangs on the value of the paradigm itself in achieving conservation. Much larger trust and belief is placed in the PA system. Much tougher questions are being asked of the community conservation paradigm.

It is well known, for instance, that ‘good’ forest and wildlife areas remain outside PA boundaries for reasons that have nothing to do with either wildlife, forests or science. The contradiction is an obvious one then, when we show faith in the protected areas system to ‘scientifically’ protect biodiversity when the basis for the creation of the system itself can be questioned on the grounds of its scientific validity.

The other thing I started to see towards the end the book is the almost complete absence of the larger political, social and economic context of the present within which conservation has to be located. Shahabuddin does talk of developmental threats (dams, mines, infrastructure projects), but these are discussed more as stand-alone projects. The narrative emerges uninformed by the drives, moves and trajectories of the larger context.

What value is there to communities conserving or even PA boundaries being ‘sanitised’ when one big project tomorrow can upset it all, riding roughshod over or perhaps aided by the legal, administrative and economic systems we are presently part of?

The last chapter ‘Reinventing Conservation: Creating Space for Nature’ too was a little disappointing because the space had been created in the preceding chapters for solutions that could have been much bolder. Disproportionate emphasis, for instance, has been placed on tourism as a means to ensure conservation and livelihood security for the locals and the notion of the buffer zone too is also not examined critically when it remains only a concept on the ground.

If the account so far sounds like only a string of complaints, it is because I have concentrated on only certain parts of what is, overall, a delightful read. The first chapter on the Sariska Tiger Reserve, for instance, is very good for the details provided of the author’s own field work and her personal interest and experience. It’s an account that is rooted in strong empirical work and builds a credibility that is sustained through to the very end.

The best chapter of the book is the third one — ‘The endangered tribe of the wildlife biologist’ — not surprising considering that Shahabuddin’s training is that of a conservation biologist. This is an account that wildlife biologists and scientists will welcome with open arms. Not only is the title laced with huge irony, the outlining of the problem and the suggested solutions are insightful and succinct. It gave me, for the first time, an understanding of the nature of the problem of wildlife science in India and why it is a problem in the first place.

Conservation at the Crossroads is an excellent piece of scholarship — one that I found insightful and useful and one I would strongly recommend. Permanent Black and the New India Foundation need to be congratulated for bringing it out and hopefully there will be many more.

— Pankaj Sekhsaria is an environment writer, researcher and photographer. He edits the ‘Protected Area Update’ a bimonthly newsletter on wildlife produced by the environmental action group, Kalpavriksh

PROTECTED AREA UPDATE - JUNE 2010

Dear Friends,
Here is the list of contents and edit of the new issue of the Protected
Area Update - Vol XVI, No. 3, June 2010 (No. 85). If you would like
specific stories or the entire Update as an attachment, please do let me
know at psekhsaria@gmail.com

thanks
Pankaj Sekhsaria
Editor, Protected Area Update
C/o Kalpavriksh
---

PROTECTED AREA UPDATE
News and Information from protected areas in India and South Asia
Vol. XVI No. 3
June 2010 (No. 85)

LIST OF CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
A summer of discontent

NEWS FROM INDIAN STATES
ANDHRA PRADESH
MoEF panel to study proposal for reduction of Kolleru WLS
Tunnel under construction in Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam TR collapses
Memorial for YSR Reddy proposed inside the Gundla Brahmeswara WLS

ASSAM
FD to compensate 300 families affected by elephant depredation in
Jorhat district
Majuli Island to be declared eco-sensitive zone
Assam plans Kaziranga-Manas tourism circuit
FD elephant injures tourists in Kaziranga; visitors did not heed
mahout’s instructions
Kaziranga NP gets record number of tourists

GOA
Entry fees may change for PAs in Goa

GUJARAT
Fires in forests of North Gujarat
SC permits oil pipeline, electricity line through Dhrangadhra Wild Ass
Sanctuary
116 lions died in Gir since 2007
Rs. 48 crores for lion conservation
Siddi tribesmen to become guides at Gir
Road through Velavadar NP to be closed

JHARKHAND
Corpus fund to curb human-elephant conflict in Dalma WLS
Awareness campaign helps reduce poaching/ ritual hunting in PAs

KARNATAKA
Project for upgradation of 10kms road stretch inside Nagarhole NP dropped
Illegal tourism inside Bandipur NP
Ban on night traffic through Bandipur beneficial: study
MADHYA PRADESH
20 animals killed on NH 75 in Panna TR
Airstrip under construction near Pench TR
MAHARASHTRA
Concern over process of declaration of buffer zones around critical
tiger habitats
Proposal for six new PAs in state
Frequent forest fires in SGNP
Lioness in SGNP safari kills guard; report suggests better security
measures

MEGHALAYA
Opposition to uranium mining in Balpakram NP; Govt. puts project on hold

ORISSA
FSI records 960 incidents of forest fires in Orissa in the month of
April; PAs also affected
Village relocation from Simlipal TR; differing points of view
Oil spill threatens turtles off the Orissa coast
RAJASTHAN
Concern over relocation of people from the Sariska TR

UTTAR PRADESH
Swamp deer habitat in Dudhwa TR threatened due to changing course of
River Sharda
UTTARAKHAND
FD increases budget to compensate losses in man-animal conflicts
MoEF concerned over growing number of resorts around Corbett TR
WEST BENGAL
FD, SSB and WWF collaborate to check smuggling from the Singalila NP
FD halts the construction of metalled road inside Buxa TR
Police harassment alleged against FRA activists in forests adjoining
Jaldapara WLS

NATIONAL NEWS FROM INDIA
No ban on tourism in Tiger Reserves
Wildlife and forests to split from environment ministry
13th Finance Commission’s grants Rs.5000 crores to states for
conservation of forests
Funds for relocation for villages from PAs for 2008-09 and 2009-10
Fund allocation for wildlife protection outside protected areas
Survey of India to map the 7,500-km-long Indian coastline
MoEF proposes ban on trade in peacock feathers

SOUTH ASIA
Nepal
Human Rights Commission indicts army for killing three unarmed people
in Bardia NP

OPPORTUNITIES
Project assistant and Project trainee for Forest Ecology Program at
Mudumalai TR
Program Managers for SeasonWatch, a Citizen Science Project
WWF-India’s Small Grants Program for Conservation Research & Action
Volunteer opportunities at ZOO

UPCOMING
3rd Asian Lepidoptera Conservation Symposium

IN THE SUPREME COURT
PERSPECTIVE (A new column)
----

EDITORIAL

A SUMMER OF DISCONTENT

The fulcrum of the acrimonious debates and discussions on wildlife conservation in India has been the issue of relocation of people from within protected areas. For all practical purposes it has been and continues to be offered as the single most effective and promising solution to the crisis faced by wildlife and wilderness in India. The political, economic and social landscape of the country may be changing at an unbelievable pace but this demand for relocation stands on like a steadfast rock. It might well be argued, as it often is, that these rapid irreversible and unstoppable changes in fact demand that the people living in forest areas and in wildlife habitats be moved out quickly – only then can the people, the natural habitats and the wildlife have any future.

It is an argument that is persuasive, and as is seen in the stories of this issue of the PA Update, one that has considerable staying power. The push is coming from the very top and the demand for relocation has been clearly primed up over the last few months. When the Prime Minister himself says that relocation of people from PAs should be a priority, the message and trajectory is as clear as it can be.

Relocation is a complex and controversial project with implications that are political, economic, social and cultural. If it has to be successful these dimensions have to be considered sensitively and in detail. It is a process that needs time and thoughtful engagement, something that the Rs. 10 lakh per family compensation package is not equipped to provide. It has been conceived as the easy way out of a situation that cannot and will not be easy.

Communities might want to move and in that case they should be helped in all possible ways. A comprehensive rehabilitation package based on the Rs. 10 lakh scheme might work well but why has there been no thought given to dealing with other situations? What if people don’t want to move? What if they don’t want the compensation being doled out to them? How can they not have the option? How can there be only one plan for millions of people scattered across drastically different contexts? What is the Plan B or C to ensure conservation without violating the rights and livelihood security of our fellow citizens?

Reports you will read below provide an excellent example of the complexities. One report says that the relocation of a village from the Simlipal Tiger Reserve was a success; another says it’s an absolute disaster! In Sariska it has been pointed out that villages are being moved out and simultaneously huge investments are being made to get ramp up infrastructure to get tourists in. In Maharashtra serious concerns have been expressed over creating buffer zones around tiger reserves as the process laid out in laws and policies is being openly violated. In West Bengal it is being alleged that the administration is harassing activists, locals and tribals who are seeking the implementation of tribal rights in forests as per the law of the land.

To claim that anyone has the right answers would be presumptuous but the image that we see of ourselves in the mirror is not necessarily a pleasant one. It augurs well neither for the people who are being relocated, nor for the wildlife in whose name they are being moved!

And that too is only part of the story. There are huge pressures on forests, on natural resources, on wildlife and on communities from a range of forces that include developmental projects, the processes of globalization and in recent times, also from an internal security threat perception. Together they have created huge discontent in the forest areas across the country this summer and we would be ignoring it at our own peril!

---
Protected Area Update
Vol. XVI, No. 3, June 2010 (No. 85)

Editor: Pankaj Sekhsaria
Editorial Assistance: Reshma Jathar
Illustrations: Madhuvanti Anantharajan
Produced by Kalpavriksh

Ideas, comments, news and information may please be sent to the
editorial address:

KALPAVRIKSH
Apartment 5, Shri Dutta Krupa, 908 Deccan Gymkhana, Pune 411004,
Maharashtra, India.
Tel/Fax: 020 – 25654239.
Email: psekhsaria@gmail.com
Website: www.kalpavriksh.org

---
Publication of the PA Update has been supported by
Foundation for Ecological Security (FES)
http://fes.org.in/
Duleep Matthai Nature Conservation Trust
C/o FES
Greenpeace India
www.greenpeace.org/india/
Association for India’s Development
www.aidindia.org
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
www.rspb.org.uk/
Indian Bird Conservation Network
http://www.ibcn.in/
***
Information has been sourced from different newspapers and the following
websites
http://wildlifewatch.in/
http://indiaenvironmentportal.org.in

Protected Area Update - April 2010

Dear Friends,
Here is the list of contents and the editorial for the new issue of the Protected Area Update - Vol XVI, No. 2, April 2010.

Please write to me at psekhsaria@gmail.com if you want more details or the entire issue over email.

----
PROTECTED AREA UPDATE
News and Information from protected areas in India and South Asia

Vol. XVI No. 2
April 2010 (No. 84)
----

LIST OF CONTENTS

EDITORIAL
The Western Ghats in focus

NEWS FROM INDIAN STATES

ANDHRA PRADESH
Nuapada swamps to be declared a conservation reserve

ASSAM
Four suspected poachers arrested from Orang NP
Call to declare Poba Reserve Forest a wildlife sanctuary
BSF to help protect Kaziranga NP
SSB proposal to set up border outpost in Manas NP
Health camps for patrol elephants and staff of Manas NP and Pobitora WLS
Timber cut illegally from Manas NP seized

GUJARAT
Cell proposed for management plans for PAs
CAG points out deficiencies in wildlife and forest management in Gujarat
10 per cent rise in black buck population in and around Velavadar NP
Gir staff poorly equipped with knowledge of wildlife and wildlife law: study

HIMACHAL PRADESH
Red Jungle Fowl breeding program in Renuka and Simbalbara WLSs in HP

KARNATAKA
Large fire in BRT WLS
Ban on night traffic through Bandipur National Park lifted again
25 acre Kollegal-BRT WLS corridor handed over to Forest Department
Bhimgad declared as a WLS
HC notice on night safari in Bannerghatta NP

KERALA
12 new IBAs in Kerala

MANIPUR
Save Loktak Lake Campaign

MADHYA PRADESH
State Forest Minister calls for CBI inquiry into tiger disappearance from Panna TR

MAHARASHTRA
Village inside Tadoba Andhari TR to sue FD for mining on their community land
Students ask for plastic ban within Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary
Proposal to remove temple area from Bhimashankar WLS rejected
CCTV cameras at Sanjay Gandhi NP gates to track visitor movements
GIB Sanctuary area down by 7000 sq km
NBWL rejects widening of NH-17 because of impact on Karnala WLS

ORISSA
Public-private initiative for Simlipal TR
MoEF asks for specific wildlife management plan for electricity transmission line through Chandaka-Dampara WLS
Management plans for 14 elephant corridors in Orissa

TAMIL NADU
Bi-lingual nature guide to Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve
Nilgiri Natural History Society launched

WEST BENGAL
Villagers invoke Forest Rights Act; take over forest tract adjoining Jaldapara WLS
Drive to demolish illegal structures in the East Kolkata Wetlands

NATIONAL NEWS FROM INDIA
Internet group for tracking insect migration
NTCA regional office to be set up in Nagpur
Expert Panel on Western Ghats constituted
Funds released for village relocation from core/critical tiger habitats
Figures for tigers and leopards killed in India since 1994
Save Western Ghats Meet 2010
Comprehensive database launched for tiger mortality and crime in India
Workshop on Marine Mammal Stranding held in Kochi
Two day seminar on Gangetic Dolphin held in Patna
Task Force on Project Elephant
Expert committee for protected areas assessment in the North East

SOUTH ASIA
Bangladesh
Bangladesh launches Tiger Action Plan

OPPORTUNITIES
MPhil in Conservation Leadership, University of Cambridge
Ramsar Small Grants Fund
Ravi Sankaran Inlaks Fellowship Program for Field Biology, Ecology and Conservation

IN THE SUPREME COURT
HYDROELECTRIC PROJECTS PROPOSED INSIDE ASKOT WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
MoEF INTRODUCES FIVE SPECIFIC SCIENTIFIC INITIATIVES

EDITORIAL

THE WESTERN GHATS IN FOCUS

The Western Ghats are, without doubt, one of the richest eco-regional systems in the entire subcontinent. Straddling six states from Gujarat in the North to Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the south, the 1600 odd kms long mountain range is home to a wide diversity of life just as it supports innumerable human communities and cultures. The beauty of the landscapes here is unmatched, endemism in the forests is high and many rivers that nourish large parts of peninsular India originate here. Not surprisingly a large number of protected areas dot the entire length of the ghats.
It is only to expected then that the Western Ghats have appeared regularly in the pages of the Protected Area Update over the years; something of interest and importance is always happening here. Nothing however matches the presence they have in this particular issue – it is almost like it’s become a Western Ghats special.
There has been a lot of very localized activity along the length of the mountain range that you will see reports of: children in schools in the vicinity of the Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary in Maharashtra demanding that plastic be banned from within sanctuary limits, the creation of 12 new Important Bird Areas in Kerala or the ongoing controversy over the ban on night traffic on national highways inside the Bandipur National Park.
A lot is also happening that has an appeal and relevance cutting across state and political boundaries. A large conservation research and action initiative has been going on under the aegis of the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), the well known Save Western Ghats movement is on the way to being revived, a new Nilgiri Natural History Society has been formed and the Ministry of Environment and Forests has also set up an ‘Expert panel on the Western Ghats’ to ‘assist in the preservation, conservation and rejuvenation of this environmentally sensitive and ecologically significant region.’
In another commendable development the Minister of Environment and Forests, Mr Jairam Ramesh, recently organized a special meeting of 43 Members of Parliament from the 51 districts which have the Western Ghats running through them. It is one of those rare political initiatives where politics is not bound by political boundaries.
It has been argued often that if political constituencies had been carved out on ecological or eco-regional criteria, politics would have been different. Ecological systems, be they mountain ranges, river systems or the coast often get looked at in a piecemeal manner. The integrity of what is a single unit is completely overtaken by other considerations and the consequences have only been adverse. The Minister’s initiative could well be the starting point of some kind of a more holistic approach and other eco-regional systems too might try and pick up from what is being attempted here.
The Western Ghats have also been lucky in that there have always been vibrant local communities, NGOs, researchers and officials who have continued to engage with the complexities and work with the challenges of this unique mountain range. To say, however, that things will now be different in the Western Ghats would be putting the cart much ahead of the horse. We have to wait and watch to see how the present initiatives unfold. There is no denying that they look very promising and one hopes that some of the promise will indeed be realized in the future.

---
Protected Area Update
Vol. XVI, No. 1, February 2010 (No. 83)

Editor: Pankaj Sekhsaria
Editorial Assistance: Reshma Jathar
Illustrations: Madhuvanti Anantharajan
Produced by: Kalpavriksh

Ideas, comments, news and information may please be sent to the editorial address:

KALPAVRIKSH
Apartment 5, Shri Dutta Krupa, 908 Deccan Gymkhana, Pune 411004, Maharashtra, India.
Tel/Fax: 020 – 25654239.
Email: psekhsaria@gmail.com
Website: www.kalpavriksh.org

PUBLICATION OF THE PA UPDATE HAS BEEN SUPPORTED BY
- Foundation for Ecological Security (FES)
http://fes.org.in/
- Duleep Matthai Nature Conservation Trust
C/o FES
- Greenpeace India
www.greenpeace.org/india/
- Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
www.rspb.org.uk/
- Indian Bird Conservation Network
http://www.ibcn.in/
***
Information has been sourced from different newspapers and the following websites

http://wildlifewatch.in/
http://indiaenvironmentportal.org.in

Protected Area Update - New Issue: February 2010

PROTECTED AREA UPDATE
News and Information from protected areas in India and South Asia

Vol. XVI No. 1
February 2010 (No. 83)

LIST OF CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
Don’t forget those on the frontlines

NEWS FROM INDIAN STATES

ANDHRA PRADESH
Jerdon's courser sighted in Sri Lankamalleswara Wildlife Sanctuary

ASSAM
Database of all rhinos in Assam
Increased human - elephant conflict in Assam
Over one lakh people visited Kaziranga National Park in 2008-09
PWD study for diverting traffic from NH 37 section through Kaziranga NP
14 rhinos poached in Kaziranga NP in 2009
Ramsar tag proposed for Dhir Beel, Son Beel, Kaziranga Beel and Dordoibam Beel
Two senior Nagaland officials suspect in rhino poaching

BIHAR
Railway track creates new rhino habitat adjoining Valmiki TR
Tourism promotion plans for Valmiki TR
Tiger Protection Force proposed for Valmiki TR
Mining ban shows positive results in Valmiki Tiger Reserve

GUJARAT
Bio-tech efforts to conserve Gir lion

JAMMU & KASHMIR
Satellite collars for black bears in Dachigam NP

KARNATAKA
Work to proceed on Mysore –Mananthavadi road through the Nagarhole NP

KERALA
Joint initiatives with Tamil Nadu for Periyar TR

MADHYA PRADESH
State signs tri-partite agreement with NTCA for tiger conservation
Wildlife law enforcement and training in Bhopal

MAHARASHTRA
Dismantled film sets degrading forests adjoining the Sanjay Gandhi NP
Van majoors protest non-payment of wages; stops tourists from entering Nagzira WLS
Deer and neelgai translocated from Nagpur to Bor Wildlife Sanctuary
Shifting of villages from Tadoba Andhari TR to be expedited
MoEF rejects mining project near Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve

ORISSA
Seven month ban on marine fishing in Orissa from November 2009
Oriental small-clawed otter reported from Karlapat Wildlife Sanctuary

PUNJAB
Illegal fishing rampant in Harike WLS

RAJASTHAN
Illegal fishing in Sariska TR; four arrested
NTCA approves Darrah Tiger Reserve
New road threat to Ranthambore TR

TAMIL NADU
New facilities, tourism initiatives at Mudumalai Tiger Reserve
Convention held on livelihood rights of peasants, repatriates and adivasis of Nilgiri District

UTTAR PRADESH
Additional compensation from FD to those killed in feline attacks
Advanced detectors to locate metal traps in Dudhwa TR
Daily wages in Dudhwa TR not paid for seven months
17 tiger cubs sighted in Dudhwa TR
Rhinos near Indo-Nepal border to get unique identities

UTTARAKHAND
70% resorts around Corbett TR used for non-wildlife tourism

WEST BENGAL
Pollution, road widening project threaten East Kolkata wetlands
State signs tri-partite agreement for tiger conservation; allotted Rs. 300 crores for Buxa and Sunderbans TRs
Gaur run over by train near Chapramari WLS
Growth in elephant, rhino & gaur population in Dooars region
Dalma WLS elephant herd caught in Maoist-police war in West Bengal
Deer in Sunderbans being poached for Kolkata hotels
Move to supplement tiger prey base in Sunderbans

NATIONAL NEWS FROM INDIA
Forest Area Under Encroachment
SeasonWatch – A project to monitor plant phenology across India
IGNOU, WWF offer PG Diploma in environmental law
New threat to vultures from Ketoprofen
Ministry of Tourism to carry out audit of seven protected areas
Central Empowered Committee of the SC under purview of RTI
Sanctuary Wildlife Awards 2009

SOUTH ASIA
NEPAL
Bardia NP expanded by 900 sq. kms

PAKISTAN
Virus kills more than 70 ibex in Khirthar NP

OPPORTUNITIES
WWF Prince Bernhard Scholarships for nature conservation
CEPF-ATREE Western Ghats Small Grants
Call for nominations: Wildlife Tourism Awards
JRFs needed for research in the Southern Western Ghats

UPCOMING
13th Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of Commons

EDITORIAL

DON'T FORGET THOSE ON THE FRONTLINES

If technology, money and good intentions were enough, there would be no reason for any concern about the fate of Indian wildlife. There is plenty of that in evidence even in this issue of the PA Update – calls for more PAs, declaration of more tiger reserves, larger demands and commitments for money, sophisticated equipment for surveillance and use of newer technologies for various aspects of research, management, and protection. Much of this is necessary and welcome. But, is it enough? Are we, in the clamour for all this and more, losing sight of something more essential and absolutely fundamental?
There are at least two reports in the pages that follow that force these important questions – about the treatment and the neglect of the foot soldiers of conservation; those in the forest staff that are out there, working where it matters the most. What can be the justification for non payment of many months of wages to daily wage workers in the Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary in Maharashtra and in Uttar Pradesh’s Dudhwa Tiger Reserve? It is indeed a sad state of affairs when these workers have to strike work and block tourist traffic (like in Nagzira) to bring attention to their plight.
Needless to say, these are not new happenings and delayed salaries are only one of an array of problems that they are forced to face – working conditions are poor and outright dangerous sometimes; there are no family care facilities; training and equipment are often inadequate and there are few avenues for promotions and other incentives.
If this is the treatment that will be meted out to the most vulnerable can we really hope that management, conservation or protection will happen effectively? Lofty hopes and pronunciations will remain merely those if issues of brass-tacks continue to be neglected in this manner.
When many crores of rupees are being allocated for wildlife conservation in general and to individual PAs and tiger reserves in particular, why treat those at the bottom of the hierarchy with such callousness? And that too for only their legitimate dues.
The lesson should be a simple one – if conservation is to be successful, things need to be in order, first, inside the home. Everything else can come later.

---
Protected Area Update
Vol. XVI, No. 1, February 2010 (No. 83)

Editor: Pankaj Sekhsaria
Editorial Assistance: Reshma Jathar
Illustrations: Madhuvanti Anantharajan
Produced by: Kalpavriksh

Ideas, comments, news and information may please be sent to the editorial address:

KALPAVRIKSH
Apartment 5, Shri Dutta Krupa, 908 Deccan Gymkhana, Pune 411004, Maharashtra, India.
Tel/Fax: 020 – 25654239.
Email: psekhsaria@gmail.com
Website: www.kalpavriksh.org

--
Publication of the PA Update has been supported by
- Foundation for Ecological Security (FES)
http://fes.org.in/
- Duleep Matthai Nature Conservation Trust
C/o FES
- Greenpeace India
www.greenpeace.org/india/
- Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
www.rspb.org.uk/
- Indian Bird Conservation Network
http://www.ibcn.in/
***
Information has been sourced from different newspapers and the following websites

http://wildlifewatch.in/
http://indiaenvironmentportal.org.in

Protected Area Update - December 2009

Pasted below is the list of contents and Editorial from the New Issue of the 'Protected Area Update', Vol XV, No. 6 (December 2009) (No. 82).
If you want any specific stories or the entire update as an attachment, please write to me at psekhsaria@gmail.com

Pankaj Sekhsaria
Editor, 'Protected Area Update'
C/o Kalpavriksh
---

PROTECTED AREA UPDATE
News and Information from protected areas in India and South Asia
Vol. XV No. 6, December 2009 (No.82)
---
LIST OF CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
The day of the dolphin

NEWS FROM INDIAN STATES
ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS
ZSI survey in islands of Rani Jhansi Marine NP

ASSAM
Tourism infrastructure enhanced at Pobitara Wildlife Sanctuary
Spate of wildlife deaths in and around Kaziranga National Park
Human-elephant conflict takes heavy toll along Assam - Bhutan border
Awards given to Assam FD personnel
Joint committees to monitor transmission lines for elephant safety
Two rhino poachers killed in gun battle in Rajiv Gandhi (Orang) NP

BIHAR
Special efforts to prevent dolphin hunting

GUJARAT
1550 trees to be cut over seven acres of land adjoining Gir WLS
Maldharis insist on living in Gir; memorandum given to President

KERALA
38 casualties in boat tragedy in Periyar TR

‘Orientation Programme on Wildlife Conservation’ for Kerala High Court judges

MAHARASHTRA
Opposition to religious gathering within Bhimashankar WLS
Trees over 50 hectares to be cut in the Great Indian Bustard WLS
Conservation Reserve status proposed for Mahendri Reserve Forest

MEGHALAYA
Community reserve for pitcher plant conservation in South Garo Hills

NAGALAND
Singphan RF declared as Singphan WLS

ORISSA
Oil spill concerns for Gahirmatha
SC notice against Dhamra port
Orissa to constitute State Wetland Management Authority; Integrated -Management Plan for Chilika Lake
Orissa may take the help of traditional elephant catchers from Assam to mitigate man-elephant conflict

RAJASTHAN
Rs 104 crores for relocation of villages from Ranthambhore TR
Great Indian Bustard sighted in Barmer part of Desert NP after 25 years

TAMIL NADU
MoEF says no to neutrino project proposed in Nilgiri BR

UTTAR PRADESH
UP plans to protect Gangetic Dolphin
2nd phase of rhino introduction planned in Dudhwa TR

WEST BENGAL
Concrete embankments proposed to protect Sunderbans

Two rhinos deaths in Jaldapara WLS; elephant safari stopped

NATIONAL NEWS FROM INDIA
Gangetic Dolphin is National Aquatic Animal

Centre approves cheetah reintroduction roadmap preparation

Ecotone – New newsletter on wildlife and conservation in North East India
Endangered species list under the Biological Diversity Act
National Tiger Conservation Authority reconstituted
NTCA to issue identity cards for tigers; also to use new tool ‘payment of ecosystem services’ for conservation
Zoological Survey of India activities related to protected areas

SOUTH ASIA
NEPAL
Nepal Army gears up for anti-poaching drive

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Tiger population falls in Myanmar’s Hukuang Tiger Reserve

OPPORTUNITIES
CEPF Call for Proposals for Western Ghats

PROTECTED AREAS IN THE COUNTRY: LATEST NUMBERS
AWARDEES - CMS VATAVARAN ENVIRONMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL - 2009


UPCOMING
National meeting of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC)

IN THE SUPREME COURT
--------

EDITORIAL

THE DAY OF THE DOLPHIN

It can only be considered an extremely positive and welcome step that the Gangetic River Dolphin has now been notified as the National Aquatic Animal. Not only will this help direct much needed attention to an animal whose fate has been seriously neglected, it will also help focus on the importance of the ecosystems that are home to them – our rivers.
It is ironic that a civilisation that is so dependant, indeed nourished by its rivers is so callous to their plight today. There is hardly any river in the country now, whose natural flow has not been altered by dams and barrages or which has not become a carrier of our municipal and industrial waste. The waters that have been the source of life and nourishment for centuries are, now, almost dead themselves. Needless to say, the fate of the dolphins and a multitude of plant and animal life that depends on these systems is fated to meet the same end. That they are not seen often has not helped matters worse. ‘Out of sight’, in this case, has clearly been a case of ‘out of mind’.
Little, for instance, is known of the biology or even the number of the Gangetic dolphins that survive today. The most optimistic estimates put their number at about 2000, spread over rivers in the Gangetic basin and in the Brahmaputra river system.
The new status of the animal will hopefully change the present situation and if some reports in this issue of the Protected Area Update are some indication, this is already beginning to happen. The states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have almost immediately expressed their intentions (and in some case also taken steps) for dolphin protection and conservation. A further interest in the dolphin has also been spurred in Assam, where the creature has already been the state aquatic animal for over a year now.
What will be crucial is how the intentions are operationalised on the ground, or for that matter in the water. It needs to be borne in mind that some ‘band-aid’ kind of suggestions and solutions (arrest fisherfolk, awareness programs in schools etc) alone will simply not work. The status and fate of our rivers are symptomatic of deep and underlying problems with our development process where damming of rivers, chemicalisation of our agriculture, rapid industrialization and urbanization have been given priority over everything else. More than 168 large dams, for instance, have been planned in the Brahmaputra river basin alone, with little realization that this will change the entire ecological system and adversely impact the dolphin. It is precisely these kinds of developments that are working as a noose around our rivers and the diverse life found in them.
If the dolphin must have it’s day, it is this process that needs a fundamental and serious re-engagement and re-structuring; otherwise declarations that accord national status will amount to nothing more than symbolic lip service. And that as well all know, is not going to achieve anything at all.

---
Protected Area Update
Vol. XV, No. 6, December 2009 (No. 82)

Editor: Pankaj Sekhsaria
Editorial Assistance: Reshma Jathar
Illustrations: Madhuvanti Anantharajan
Produced by: Kalpavriksh

Ideas, comments, news and information may please be sent to the editorial address:

KALPAVRIKSH
Apartment 5, Shri Dutta Krupa, 908 Deccan Gymkhana, Pune 411004, Maharashtra, India.
Tel/Fax: 020 – 25654239.
Email: psekhsaria@gmail.com
Website: www.kalpavriksh.org
---

PUBLICATION OF THE PA Update has been supported by

-Foundation for Ecological Security (FES)
http://fes.org.in/

-Duleep Mathai Nature Conservation Trust
C/o FES

-Greenpeace India
www.greenpeace.org/india/

-Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
www.rspb.org.uk/

-Indian Bird Conservation Network
http://www.ibcn.in/

---
Information has been sourced from different newspapers and the following websites
http://wildlifewatch.in/
http://www.cmsindia.org/cms/sector/cmsenvis.html
http://indiaenvironmentportal.org.in

Wildlife is on the brink...

The Hindu Sunday Magazine, 01 November 2009
http://www.hindu.com/mag/2009/11/01/stories/2009110150170500.htm
CONSERVATION

Wildlife is on the brink…

PANKAJ SEKHSARIA

… and it is high time we took a critical look at our conservation realities and policies.

---

Most that share landscapes with wildlife, for instance, live extremely low impact lives yet they pay the biggest cost for conservation.

---

PHOTO: PANKAJ SEKHSARIA

Question of survival: Tribal settlements in Orissa’s Simlipal Biosphere Reserve.

If there is one dominating sense about the fate of wildlife in this country, it is that of ‘the end’. The wiping out of the tiger from the Sariska and Panna Tiger Reserves has been headline news; poaching and trading in wildlife parts con tinues unabated; human wildlife conflict — be it with carnivores like leopards or tigers, large mammals like elephants or smaller animals like wild boar, deer or monkeys — is seriously on the rise; lakes, rivers and other wetlands are either being dammed, poisoned or encroached upon; climate change threatens to change the world in an unprecedented manner and as a combined consequence wildlife numbers are dwindling precariously and many species of birds, animals and plants stand dangerously close to the precipice of extinction.

The Forest Rights Act

An important new twist was added to wildlife conservation debates a couple of years ago with the enactment of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, popularly known as the Forest Rights Act (FRA). The debate over this act has been volatile and the opposition, particularly from a section of wildlife conservationists and former forest officers, has been and continues to be strong. A lot has been written about these concerns and strong affirmation came from a rather unlikely source around a year ago. A report in Newsweek (“India’s missing tigers”, May 5, 2008) took the argument to an unexpected extreme when it argued that ‘democracy and economic development’ were driving the tiger to extinction in India.

Many might actually agree with this articulation, but even a cursory analysis will reveal that the conclusions are as ill-informed as they are short sighted. An entire argument cannot be built on the analysis of and comment on just one piece of recent legislation in the country: the FRA. The law is a recent one and its implementation, if it is happening at all, has just about begun. While fears about forest and wildlife loss may indeed be justified, selectively wiping away history and placing the responsibility for the tiger’s demise at the door of this one legislation and one set of people is not only irresponsible but also can be counter-productive.

Particularly so since because one aspect of India’s conservation history — the role of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi — continues to be repeatedly invoked, like in the Newsweek piece. A whole generation of wildlife enthusiasts and conservationists believe, and with good reason, that Indira Gandhi ensured that Indian wildlife still has some hope. She was the architect of critical legislations and frameworks that certainly helped protect wildlife and her personal interest and intervention like in the case of Silent Valley in Kerala ensured that many critical habitats were saved.

It is a legacy we cannot deny or wish away, but we also need to ask whether we can keep hanging on to the past? Our socio-political-economic-cultural realities have changed drastically since her time. It is the same nation and yet it is different . Wildlife conservation today, like anything else, has to be placed within this rapidly changing context. It is crucial to recognise that the same wildlife conservation policies will not succeed today just because they did in a different era. If she were alive today, Mrs. Gandhi would perhaps have agreed.

There is also a whole new ‘post-Indira Gandhi’ generation of wildlife biologists involved in cutting edge research across wild India. Many of their formulations of problems and solutions are extremely nuanced and far more representative of realities on the ground. They need to be asked and they need to be listened to.

Condemning the most vulnerable

It is no one’s case that wildlife conservation is easy. The challenges are immense and no one but the most optimistic will argue that the future for our wildlife is bright and hopeful. However, blaming the poor and the tribal; demanding their displacement to protect wildlife; seeking stricter and military-like protection is the wrong place to start. By doing this we are also ignoring many other realities. Most of the communities that share landscapes with wildlife, for instance, live extremely low impact lives and yet they are made to pay the biggest cost for conservation.

It is also not a coincidence that innumerable people’s agitations across the country today are fighting policies and projects (big dams, large scale mining, increased industrialisation) that predate on the basic survival of forest and land dependant communities. Neither is it a coincidence that many of these are important habitats that support a great diversity of threatened flora and fauna. It is as important that we recognise this overlap as it is for us to recognise that both communities and wildlife are, together, losing this battle. Nothing — be it the laws and the courts, the politicians and the bureaucrats or the media and the wildlife conservationists — are able to help them.

Hope and the FRA

Increased mining across the country, for instance, has been one of the most significant sources of concern for its impact on forests, tribal communities and important wildlife populations. In an ironic twist now, it is being suggested that the FRA might actually be the only hope for preventing mining in forest and wildlife rich areas. Efforts towards this end are already being made in states like Orissa and in particular in the Niyamgiri hills where the Dongaria Kondh Tribal community itself is fighting to save the forests. Additional hope has been kindled following the July 30, 2009 notification of the MoEF stating the forest land diversion for non-forest purposes should ensure compliance with the provisions of the FRA.

In this larger context then, it comes across as completely unfair to argue that rights for the poor, the marginalised and the historically dis-privileged necessarily means the demise of our wildlife? Can we turn the question and wonder if, in fact, “it is not too much democracy but too little of it that lies at the root our wildlife crisis?” That a more empowered people might actually fight better and more successfully? We don’t have the answers today; what we do have is the choice of which question we will ask.

Bauxite prospecting pits on the Galikonda plateau in the Ananthgiri Hills of Andhra Pradesh. Mining is one of the biggest threats to tribal communities, forests and wildlife across large parts of the country (Photo: Pankaj Sekhsaria)

Protected Area Update - October 2009

Dear Friends,

Pasted below is the list of contents and editorial for the new issue of the Protected Area Update (Vol XV, No. 5, October 2009 (No. 81). If you would like to receive details of any of the stories below or the full issue as an email attachment, please write to me. Email: psekhsaria@gmail.com

----

PROTECTED AREA UPDATE
News and Information from protected areas in India and South Asia

Vol. XV No. 5
October 2009 (No.81)

LIST OF CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
Do we want the cheetah back?

NEWS FROM INDIAN STATES

ASSAM
Habitat protection vital to save River Dolphin in the Brahmaputra
Study on implications of the Forest Rights Act around Nameri NP and
Sonai Rupai WLS
Opposition to proposal of gifting rhino horns

More stringent punishment for poaching in Assam
Opposition to eviction for expansion of the Kaziranga NP

GUJARAT
MoEF rejects proposed port at Poshitara adjoining the Gulf of Kutch
Marine NP

JHARKHAND
Mobile phones and flying squads to tackle man-elephant conflict

KARNATAKA
NEAA rejects thermal power station close to Anshi-Dandeli TR
Night traffic banned through Bandipur NP

MADHYA PRADESH
Displaced fisherfolk ask for full fishing rights in Tawa reservoir in
Satpura TR

MAHARASHTRA
Rise in Giant squirrel population in Bhimashankar WLS
Forest Dept employees warn of strike
Large scale transfers; PAs left unprotected

MEGHALAYA
Land adjoining Balpakram NP reclaimed from illegal miners

ORISSA
223 tribal families to be shifted from Similipal TR

PUNJAB
Ranjit Sagar Dam reservoir to be declared a wildlife sanctuary

RAJASTHAN
Great Indian Bustard sighted in Tal Chappar Wildlife Sanctuary

TAMIL NADU
Animal census in Point Calimere WLS

UTTARAKHAND
SC abandons elevated corridor for elephants in Rajaji NP

UTTAR PRADESH
Steering committee for tiger conservation

NATIONAL NEWS FROM INDIA
Proposal to re-introduce the cheetah to India
Report on Ecologically Sensitive Areas in India
Four PAs proposed for inclusion on UNESCO heritage list
SCB'S Distinguished Service Award to Dr Kamal Bawa
National Green Tribunal approved
CEE plans Hoolock gibbon conservation programme in NE
1st installment of CAMPA money for eight states; dissatisfaction with
amount of money being released
Centre sends teams to assess situation in eight tiger reserves

SOUTH ASIA
BANGLADESH
US, Germany pledge US $19 million for reforestation of Chunati WLS
NEPAL
121 breeding tigers counted in PAs in Nepal

UPCOMING
Great Himalayan Bird Count, Winter - 2009
International Conference on Wildlife & Biodiversity Conservation
World Tiger Summit in Ranthambore TR in 2010
Global Tiger Workshop in Kathmandu
Call for Papers: People and Protected Areas - India case studies

OPPORTUNITIES
Research position for project on Snow leopard phylogeography and
conservation
Research position for Population genetics of a montane bird in the
Western Ghats
Research positions on bio-resource ecology and climate change in the
Sikkim Himalayas
Diploma in International Wildlife Conservation Practice
Part time environment education work in Mumbai

IN THE SUPREME COURT

PRESS RELEASES
National Conference of Ministers of Environment and Forests, 18/08/09
Future of Conservation Network, 19/08/09

READERS WRITE

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EDITORIAL

Do we want the Cheetah back?

It is not anymore a question only of academic interest. The ball, in some senses, is already rolling. A meeting was held in Rajasthan in September (see national news) where a host of international and national experts including representatives from state and national governments met to discuss and debate a proposal for the re-introduction of the cheetah to India. A decision may not be taken for a while as the issues related to availability of habitat and prey, of management and possible conflict with humans are studied, analysed and decided upon.

There are many areas where the feasibility of the re-introduction will have to be carefully studied and this is what the meeting has proposed should be done. But the question really is a more fundamental one. Why do we want the cheetah back? There seem to be two different answers to this. One it would seem, and the Minister for Environment and Forests, Mr. Jairam Ramesh too referred to that - is to regain a part of the lost glory and history of this country. The other, as has been pointed by some wildlife experts, is that the cheetah, like the tiger, is the apex species of the
grassland habitat and it?s presence would, both, indicate and ensure the health of this badly abused ecosystem.

Prima facie, the arguments seem valid, but if looked at carefully, both have serious problems. It is certainly important to realize that grassland habitats are extremely productive but undervalued and abused. There is no doubt they should be conserved but introducing the cheetah from Africa hardly seems to be the way to do that. There are far simpler and effective ways to do it if we have the common sense and political will for it. It is also an extremely unfortunate part of our history that this glorious animal was shot into extinction nearly six decades ago. What is a scarier reality is that many species of plants, birds and animals stand today on the verge of joining the cheetah into that void called extinction. Flagship programs - Project Tiger and Project Elephant, for instance, face serious challenges and some might even say that they are floundering. How prudent would it then be to get into something new without ensuring the success of what we already have on hand?

Rather than spending huge amounts of time, human resources, energy and money towards an 'esoteric' bringing back of the 'dead' the effort has to be concentrated on preventing it happening again - with other species. That would be a far more worthwhile and valuable endeavour. We can't undo the extinctions we have caused already. Let the fate of cheetah be a grim pointer to that reality.

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PROTECTED AREA UPDATE

Vol. XV, No. 5, October 2009 (No. 81)
Editor: Pankaj Sekhsaria
Editorial Assistance: Reshma
Illustrations: Madhuvanti Anantharajan
Produced by: Kalpavriksh

Ideas, comments, news and information may please be sent to the
editorial address:
KALPAVRIKSH, Apartment 5, Shri Dutta Krupa, 908 Deccan Gymkhana, Pune
411004, Maharashtra, India. Tel/Fax: 020 ? 25654239.
Email: psekhsaria@gmail.com
Website: www.kalpavriksh.org
***
Publication of the PA Update Vol. XV, No. 5 has been supported by the
DULEEP MATHAI NATURE CONSERVATION TRUST, the FOUNDATION FOR ECOLOGICAL
SECURITY, GREENPEACE INDIA, the ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF
BIRDS and the INDIAN BIRD CONSERVATION NETWORK

Protected Area Update - August 2009 (Vol XV, No 4)

Dear Friends,
Here is the list of contents and editorial of the new issue of the
Protected Area Update - Vol XV, No. 4, August 2009 (No. 80). If you would like to receive
the entire PA Update over the email please write to me.

thanks
Pankaj Sekhsaria
Editor, Protected Area Update
C/o Kalpavriksh
Email: psekhsaria@gmail.com
---

PROTECTED AREA UPDATE

News and Information from protected areas in India and South Asia
Vol. XV No. 4
August 2009 (No.80)


LIST OF CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
A new minister at the helm

NEWS FROM INDIAN STATES

ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS
CEE to develop nature interpretation centre at Mahatma Gandhi Marine
National Park

ANDHRA PRADESH
Checklist of the birds of Pulicat
Two biosphere reserves proposed for Andhra Pradesh

ASSAM
Gibbons in Gibbon WLS not crossing over the railway line
Hand reared Asiatic black bears released in Manas NP
Hydroelectric projects in the North East may pose threat to KNP:
Researchers
Rhino count in Kaziranga now 2048

Kaziranga Tiger Foundation not formed yet; reserve deprived of central
funds

CHATTISGARH
Wildlife enforcement workshop held in Raipur

GUJARAT
State Wildlife Board allows for diversion of land in four PAs
More wells around Gir covered after government hikes subsidy
Gujarat cites Panna TR case to keep lions to itself
93 lion deaths in Gujarat in last three years

HIMACHAL PRADESH
Panel says no to scrapping of sanctuaries

KARNATAKA
Only elephants to ferry tourists in PAs
Project Elephant Directorate in Madikeri

Proposal to close road through Bandipur NP, Wayanad WLS withdrawn

KERALA
Tiger population in Wayanad WLS estimated at 20-25

MADHYA PRADESH
Road widening through Pench TR opposed
Change in Field Directors at Kanha, Panna and Bandavgarh TRs
No more tigers in Panna TR - It's official now; four cats to be
translocated

MAHARASHTRA
CAT asks state to appoint Head of Forest Force within eight weeks
CEE to develop nature interpretation centre at Nandur Madhmeshwar WLS
Villagers relocated from Botezari arrested for 'violating' and entering
Tadoba Andhari TR
11.44 acres reclaimed by Sanjay Gandhi NP
NGO alleges that Sanjay Gandhi NP authorities claiming land illegally
in Malad area
Soil testing in Tulsi Lake area in Sanjay Gandhi NP without FD permission
Dogs form 50% of leopard diet in Sanjay Gandhi NP

ORISSA
Nandankanan now a member of world zoo body
Rs. Three crore project to deal with human elephant conflict at
Chandaka WLS
Rs. 5 crore Elephant Management Plan for state
E-bulletin on the Forest Rights Act in Orissa
Greenpeace report on turtle-fisheries issues in Orissa

RAJASTHAN
70 black bucks die in Tal Chappar WLS due to 'weather shock'

SIKKIM
Forest fires across the state in March

PANDA Newsletter from ENVIS Sikkim

TAMIL NADU
Field Guide to the plants of the Northern Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve
Nature Interpretation Centre in the Sathyamangalam WLS

UTTARAKHAND
Rs. 8.5 crore security plan for Corbett TR

WEST BENGAL
Nepal police fire at elephant herd

Community based tourism project in North Bengal

NATIONAL NEWS FROM INDIA
SC to CAMPA: Provide Rs. 1000 crore per year to states in next five years
Interactive database on threatened lakes
Proposal for a National Green Tribunal
Tripartite MoUs to be signed between Centre, State and Project Tiger
Reserves
Simlipal TR, Pachmari and Nokrek NP added to UNESCO's Global Biosphere
Reserve Network
Forest Administration to be 'modernised' to deal with naxal threat
NTCA directives on tourism in tiger reserves
Whitley Award for Dr. MD Madhusudan
Prem Bhatia Award for Environmental Journalism to Gargi Parsai
Tiger relocation protocol approved
Environment in the Indian Parliament: An Analysis 2007

SOUTH ASIA
Consultation on Landscape Approach to Biodiversity Conservation and
Management in the Eastern Himalayas

UPCOMING
International Conference on Wildlife Conservation, Health and Disease
Management


EDITORIAL

A NEW MINISTER AT THE HELM

Ever since the new government was sworn in, there has been a flurry of activity on the environment front. The new Union Minister for Environment and Forests, Mr. Jairam Ramesh has certainly been very active, as he has gone around the country meeting officials, people’s representatives and NGOs alike.
The developments and his pronouncements too have been wide ranging – covering a diversity of issues that include the proposed Coastal Zone Management regime (allowing for its lapse), ensuring that provisions of the Forest Rights Act are met prior to seeking diversion of forest lands under the Forest Conservation Act; a change in the structure and operation of the CAMPA fund; engagement with a range of actors on provisions of the Biological Diversity Act (BDA) and more resources and steps for wildlife conservation in general and the tiger in particular.
There are still initial days, but clearly, those working on matters of livelihood security, issues of the environment and wildlife protection see a glimmer of hope in all that has been happening. It has been clear that over the years there has been a relentless assault at the hands of a development paradigm that only understands the language of industrialization, urbanization and growth in the GDP. This, therefore, will also then be the location of the biggest challenge for the new minister and the new government.
The undeniable reality is that the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and the concerns it is supposed to advance have been at the bottom of the priorities of successive governments for a long time. If anything, the MoEF has been considered an unnecessary irritant in the path of development and economic growth - a line of thinking that is not going away very soon. Dealing with particular legislations or policy frameworks, while necessary, is not what is going to stem the rot. There has to be an attempt at dealing with, or at least questioning the fundamental issues related to ‘development’. In the current political and economic climate it will not be the easiest thing to do, but then if there is one space and Ministry that can even start the process it is without doubt, the MoEF.
The developments are, certainly, going to be watched with deep interest as they unfold.

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Protected Area Update

Vol. XV, No. 4, August 2009 (No. 80)
Editor: Pankaj Sekhsaria
Illustrations: Madhuvanti Anantharajan
Produced by: Kalpavriksh
Ideas, comments, news and information may please be sent to the
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KALPAVRIKSH, Apartment 5, Shri Dutta Krupa, 908 Deccan Gymkhana, Pune
411004, Maharashtra, India. Tel/Fax: 020 - 25654239.
Email: psekhsaria@gmail.com
Website: www.kalpavriksh.org
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Publication of the PA Update Vol. XV, No. 4 has been supported by the
Duleep Mathai Nature Conservation Trust, the Foundation for Ecological
Security and Greenpeace India.