Dear Friends,
Given below is the list of contents and the edit of the new issue of the Protected Area Update (Vol XVI, No. 6, December 2010). If you would like to receive the entire newsletter in its soft copy format, 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. XVI No. 6
December 2010 (No. 88)

LIST OF CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
FRA and wildlife conservation: The ‘critical’ question
NEWS FROM INDIAN STATES
ASSAM
- Locals help to restore Kaziranga NP corridors
- Centre releases Rs. 573 lakh for Kaziranga, Manas and Nameri TRs
- India, Bhutan to jointly monitor Manas tigers
- ONGC to support swamp deer conservation in Kaziranga NP
- Tiger conservation education program in schools adjoining PAs
- Ecodevelopment committees formed in 11 villages bordering the Orang NP
- Arms training for Orang NP staff

GUJARAT
- Gir attracts 33000 visitors, earns Rs. 42 lakh during Diwali

JHARKHAND
- Dalma WLS to expand by over 1500 ha

KARNATAKA
- Plea to allow removal of already mined ore in Kudremukh

MADHYA PRADESH
- Bandhavgarh TR to get gaur from Kanha

MAHARASHTRA
- HC asks for relocation of villages from Tadoba Andhari TR within a year
- High Court stays construction of tourist resorts and installation of windmills in Koyna WLS
- 49 mining leases approved in Sindhudurg; corridor connecting Koyna, Radhanagari WLSs and Anshi-Dandeli TR to be impacted

MIZORAM
- 227 families to be evicted from Dampa TR

ORISSA
- Coastal fishing ban for seven months
- Concerns over proposed thermal power plant proximity to Chandaka WLS
- Maoists blow up forest buildings inside Sunabeda Wildlife Sanctuary

PUNJAB
- Rs. 58 crore to fence wildlife sanctuaries

RAJASTHAN
- Rajasthan Tourism proposes train-safari through Todgarh Raoli WLS
- Illegal mining threatens Sariska again

SIKKIM
- Gangtok Himalayan Zoological Park to be upgraded

TAMIL NADU
- Minister suggests inclusion of Segur plateau in buffer zone of the Mudumalai TR

WEST BENGAL
- Rs. Four crore for tourism development and promotion in Buxa TR
- No river-linking project through Buxa TR

NATIONAL NEWS FROM INDIA
- India, Norway to collaborate for protecting biodiversity
- National Board for Wildlife reconstituted
- Save Western Ghats meet in Moodubidri in January 2011
- CEE to implement gibbon conservation programme in five North-Eastern states
- 2010 TOFT Wildlife Tourism Awards
- CEE to initiate a two-year education program for river dolphin conservation
- Former SC judge, LS Panta to chair National Green Tribunal
- Task force for Dugong conservation

SOUTH ASIA
Bangladesh
- Stricter wildlife law proposed in Bangladesh

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
- India elected secretary in Interpol’s Wildlife Crime Working Group
- UN conference for protection of dugongs

OPPORTUNITIES
- Openings for research with the Wildlife Research and Conservation Society
- The WCS Research Fellowship Program
- Openings at the Nature Conservation Foundation

UPCOMING
- First Indian Biodiversity Congress

READERS WRITE
---
SPECIAL SECTION: Forest Rights Act, Protected Areas and Wildlife Conservation

NATIONAL
- MoTA, MoEF clarify that protected areas are not outside FRA ambit

GOA
- Villagers oppose CWH status for Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary

KARNATAKA
- Soligas oppose tiger reserve status for BRT Wildlife Sanctuary

ORISSA
- Forest Rights Act being violated in Simlipal Tiger Reserve
---
ELEPHANTS IN THE NEWS: August – November 2010

PERSPECTIVE
Wildlife Tourism: A Valuable Tool for Conservation
***

EDITORIAL

FRA and WILDLIFE CONSERVATION: THE 'CRITICAL' QUESTION

Ever since the Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act (FRA for short) was notified, large sections of the wildlife conservation community have vehemently opposed it. The vociferous opposition that had started much before the final notification is seen even today. Journalists, editors and a section of wildlifers continue to berate and demonise the FRA in any and all possible fora unmindful of developments on the ground.
A historical battle to protect forests, water security, and a threatened indigenous community in the Niyamgiri hills of Orissa has just been won on the back of the FRA and yet, the argument continues to go out that this law will destroy the last of India’s remaining forests and wildlife. Neither have other organizations who had petitioned the Supreme Court and a number of High Courts against the FRA thought it right to re-negotiate their positions. There have been no shades of grey in these articulations, not even a black and white; there is just one lens through which this issue is being seen.
The Protected Area Update (Vol. XII, No. 4) had argued even before the law was enacted that a balance was needed in the discussions and that it was certainly not the disaster it was made out to be. No law can be perfect. There will always be shortcomings and challenges, but it is baffling why the narratives don’t change even when a lot around the narrative does. Why not give credit where it is due? Why continue to discredit even when there is evidence to the contrary?
Take the case of the ‘critical’ – the critical tiger habitat (CTH) and the critical wildlife habitat (CWH) – the former under the Wildlife Protection Act (WLPA) and the latter under the FRA. There is a huge push to get the ‘critical’ declarations done because then people can be relocated in the presumed interests of wildlife. What is being forgotten in this urgency is that there is due process of law to be followed. Certain conditions have to be met and the local communities have to consent fully. The Ministries of both, Tribal Affairs and Environment and Forests have made it clear that protected areas are not outside the ambit of the FRA and yet, as a number of reports in this issue of the PA Update – from the Dampa Tiger Reserve (TR) in Mizoram and the Simlipal TR in Orissa to the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple and Cotigao Sanctuaries in the Western Ghats – point out, it is evident that the provisions of the law are not being followed.
There is enough other evidence to show at the same time that the WLPA is in many situations unable to protect the PAs, leave alone wildlife outside. Illustrations abound – denotification for mines, dams, and infrastructure projects, continued illegal mining in a number of PAs and continued poaching in even the best protected of parks.
The future for forests and wildlife is certainly not rosy; certainly not in this present paradigm of development where the stakes and vested interests are disproportionately large and too deeply embedded in the system. The terms of the game are not amenable to easy change, but if one looks at the possibilities that the FRA offers there might just be the faint outline of a game changer on the horizon.
It happened in Niyamgiri; it is happening in the continued opposition to land acquisition for the Pohang Steel Company (POSCO) also in Orissa and it happening in a number of places were communities are using the FRA to protect their forests and livelihood resources and keeping out the dams and the quarrying and the logging (see earlier issues of the PA Update). The critical question is whether we are willing to see this and give it even an outside chance.

---
Protected Area Update
Vol. XVI, No. 6, December 2010 (No. 88)
Editor: Pankaj Sekhsaria
Editorial Assistance: Reshma Jathar
Illustrations: Madhuvanti Anantharajan

Produced by:
The Documentation and Outreach Centre, 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: http://kalpavriksh.org/protected-area-update
---
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
- MISEREOR
www.misereor.org
- 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 - August 2010

Dear Friends,
If you want the entire issue of the newsletter please write to me at psekhsaria@gmail.com
---

PROTECTED AREA UPDATE
News and Information from protected areas in India and South Asia
Vol. XVI No. 4, August 2010 (No. 86)

LIST OF CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
A terrible train of accidents
NEWS FROM INDIAN STATES
ANDHRA PRADESH
Plan to relocate Chenchu tribe from Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam TR
Drunk drivers pose threat to wildlife in Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam TR

ASSAM
Railway advisory to restrain elephant deaths in Assam
CBI probe into wildlife contraband haul at Guwahati airport
Speed restriction on NH-37 through Kaziranga NP
Locals protest killing of a youth by Kaziranga NP staff
Manas Tiger Reserve Information System

BIHAR
Dolphin mitras in Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary

GUJARAT
‘Amitabh Route’ in Gir interests tourists

JAMMU & KASHMIR
Markhor numbers up in Qazinag NP; peace along Indo-Pak border main reason

KARNATAKA
Bannerghatta night safari between 6 and 11 pm: FD
Motor rally inside Cauvery WLS; spotted deer killed
MoEF cancels clearance given to power plant in Karwar; says it is too
close to Cotigao WLS
Two elephants from Hassan moved to Bandipur NP; one starts return journey
Special Tiger Protection Force for Bandipur TR
Pollution related deaths of fish and crocodiles in River Kali near
Dandeli WLS, Anshi NP

KERALA
Solar fencing leads to increased human-elephant conflict in Kerala
New frog species in Ervikulam NP

MADHYA PRADESH
Guards burn tiger cub carcass in Pench TR; cut pads for tantrik ritual

MAHARASHTRA
Big reshuffle in Maharashtra FD
Satellite-collared leopard walks 120 kms to Sanjay Gandhi NP
Four policemen suspended for getting to close to tigress in Nagzira WLS

MEGHALAYA
NBWL rejects uranium mining in Balpakram NP

ORISSA
NTCA to oppose decision allowing for removal of bamboo from Satkosia TR
Expert committee to probe mass killing of elephants in Simlipal TR in
April
MPs ask for action on Dhamra Port forest violation
MoEF denies permission for thermal power plant at Dhamra near
Bhitarkanika NP

RAJASTHAN
Rajasthan to construct small dams and ponds in its protected areas
Tigers translocated to Sariska from Ranthambore TR were siblings

SIKKIM
Sikkim says no to SC directive of 10 km eco-sensitive zone around PAs

TAMIL NADU
Elephant-proof trench work along NMR stopped

UTTAR PRADESH
CEE biodiversity awareness programme in Dudhwa TR

UTTARAKHAND
Meeting on conservation and livelihoods in the Askot-Nanda Devi landscape
Initiative to revive Gola elephant corridor

WEST BENGAL
Ban on diesel cars and plastic in Gorumara National Park
North Bengal PAs under threat from hydroelectric project in Bhutan
Elephant killed in railway accident near Siliguri
Advisory emphasizes over/underpasses across railway tracks in North
Bengal; nature groups disagree
Radio collared tiger crosses border from India into Bangladesh in the
Sundarbans

NATIONAL NEWS FROM INDIA
Solar lamps in buffer villages of tiger reserves
List of threatened bird species in India rises to 154
Committee for appraisal of mining and industry projects around tiger
reserves
More than 70 leopards killed in first three months of 2010
2nd meeting of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel
NeBIO – New Journal on Environment and Biodiversity with a focus on
the North East
Open source software application for tree identification in Western Ghats

SOUTH ASIA
Nepal
Rhesus macaques released from research centre to Shivapuri NP; court
issues show cause notice

OPPORTUNITIES
Course in Conservation Biology and Wildlife Management
ATREE Small Grants Programme 2010
Short-term field-based course in conservation science
EQUATIONS is looking for programme staff for tourism related research

UPCOMING
Research Seminar on Manas and Kaziranga National Parks
4th Symposium of ‘Biodiversity and Natural Heritage of the Himalaya’
Conference on ‘Interdisciplinary Approaches in Environmental Sciences’

PERSPECTIVE
Marine conservation – Seeking a model that safeguards livelihoods and
ecosystems

EDITORIAL


A TERRIBLE TRAIN OF ACCIDENTS

It is more than six years now that the railway track running through the
forests and protected areas in North Bengal was converted from meter
gauge to broad gauge. Scores of wild animals including elephants, gaur
and leopards have been crushed under trains that have been speeding
along this corridor. Accidents were happening even before the gauge
conversion but then the speeds were limited and the number of trains
were less.
No solution seems in view and to say then that Gorumara, Jaldapara,
Chapramari and Buxa are protected areas makes no sense, because the
animals here have no protection. Nearly a dozen and a half elephants
have been mowed down in these PAs and adjoining forests by trains here
and nothing has been done about it. Some of the solutions suggested over
the years are outright laughable and non-implementable. These include
suggestions by the court a few years ago to light up the tracks using
solar lighting so that the train drivers will be able to see the
elephants. More recently the West Bengal Forest Department has been
advised to construct rail under and over passes to allow safe passage to
wildlife in a few places along the 160 kms track.
The other suggestions have been of the temporary band-aid types - clear
vegetation along the tracks to increase visibility; employ trackers with
walkie-talkies to keep an eye on elephant movement; increase
co-ordination between forest and railway staff and slow down the speed
of trains at night when most of the accidents seem to happen. It is a
telling comment that the concerned authorities have not managed to
implement even these simple ideas. Conservation groups have suggested
that all nighttime train traffic be stopped on this route or that the
line be diverted to avoid the vulnerable areas. This might be a small
price to pay to prevent the death of an endangered animal, but even this
appears to be non-acceptable. When villages that predate the creation of
PAs by 100s of years can be relocated in the interest of wildlife, there
is no reason the same can’t be done for these rail tracks that are much
more recent and have proven hugely detrimental to wildlife.
Killing an elephant attracts the highest punishment under the law.
There is much breast beating, for instance, when animals are killed by
poachers or in retaliatory killings by villagers who are victims of
elephant depredation. There are demands for stricter punishment, for
immediate arrests and calls for the Central Bureau of Investigation to
look into the matter.
We know exactly what is happening on the rail tracks in North Bengal. A
similarly distressing situation exists in neighbouring Assam, which has
the dubious distinction of maximum elephant deaths in train accidents
(there are four stories on elephants and train accidents in this issue
of the PA Update alone). The scene of ‘crime’ is known, the actors are
known and yet no action is taken: killing of wildlife is clearly a
lesser crime when committed by a particular set of actors. This is the
story in different forms in different parts of the country. Some are
more equal than others and wildlife, certainly, is at the bottom of that
pile!

---

Protected Area Update
Vol. XVI, No. 4, August 2010 (No. 86)

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

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 - 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

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.

---

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
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. 4 has been supported by the
Duleep Mathai Nature Conservation Trust, the Foundation for Ecological
Security and Greenpeace India.

Protected Area Update - April 2009

Dear Friends,
Pasted below is the list of contents and editorial from the new issue of the PA Update - Vol XV, No. 2, April 2009 (No. 78).
If you want to receive the details of any of the stories below or want to receive the entire Update as an email attachment do let me know. Also please do forward to other interested individuals and networks


Thanks
Pankaj Sekhsaria
(Editor, PA Update)
For Kalpavriksh
---

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

Vol. XV No. 2
April 2009 (No.78)

LIST OF CONTENTS

EDITORIAL
Who will police the enforcement agencies?

NEWS FROM INDIAN STATES
ANDHRA PRADESH
Contour +3 fixed as boundary of Kolleru lake WLS

ARUNACHAL PRADESH
Conditions diluted for project that submerges part of Tale Valley WLS

ASSAM
Earth cutting continues at Deepor Beel WLS
MLAs enter Kaziranga NP illegally; attack forest staff
Kaziranga rhino poachers bribed police official, villagers

Nine tiger deaths in Kaziranga NP in 3 months
Kaziranga receives funds from Project Tiger
Kaziranga NP estimated to have 16 tigers per 100 sq. kms
Erosion threat to parts of Manas NP

GUJARAT
Dolphins, sea turtles killed in dynamite explosion in Gulf of Kutch MNP

Fire over 300 hectares of Gir

HARYANA
Area within five km radius of Sultanpur NP proposed as Eco-Sensitive Zone

HIMACHAL PRADESH
Over one lakh birds counted in Pong Dam WLS this season
Forest official caught poaching in Pong Dam WLS; now absconding
Protests against Dhauladhar WLS

JAMMU & KASHMIR
Radio collar for Asiatic black bear in Dachigam
Eight lakh migratory birds visit Kashmir
State submits annual plan under Project Snow Leopard

KARNATAKA
Study: Tiger population in Karnataka healthy and stable

Elephants, leopard found in areas adjoining Bannerghata NP

KERALA
Proposal for relocation of human settlements from Wayanad WLS

MADHYA PRADESH
Two tigresses, one each from Kanha and Bandavgarh TRs, moved to Panna TR
Six gharial deaths reported from National Chambal WLS

MAHARASHTRA
Deer from Powai park released in Tungareshwar WLS
Two tiger deaths in Tadoba Andhari TR in February
SC will not interfere in encroachment removal from Sanjay Gandhi NP

MANIPUR
Fire destroys over 60% of Keibul Lamjao NP; many Sangai feared dead
ORISSA
1572 crocodiles counted in Bhitarkanika NP
Huge turtle mortality in Gahirmatha
RAJASTHAN
Another tigress shifted to Sariska from Ranthambore
Planning Commission releases Rs. 56 crore for water pipeline for Keoladeo NP
ONGC plans for oil exploration in Desert NP hits a roadblock

UTTARAKHAND
State-of-the art technology to fight fires in Mussoorie Forest Division
Electric fences to prevent Rajaji NP elephants from entering villages
Rapid Action Team to protect tigers in Corbett NP
'Best Maintained Tourist Friendly Park' award for Corbett NP for 2007-08

WEST BENGAL
Invasive species threat to Sunderbans mangroves


NATIONAL NEWS FROM INDIA
Revival of National Coral Reef Research Institute mooted
No PA vehicles or staff for election duty
Major fires in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve
Special Tiger Protection Force in the offing
Pakshi Shree award for Dr. Ramana Athreya
Delhi High Court comes down heavily on MoEF and the NEAA
Workshop held on Social dimensions of Marine Protected Area implementation in India
70 birds in Chilika satellite tagged for study on Avian Influenza
WCCB launches website

SOUTH ASIA
NEPAL
14 gharials radio-tagged

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Ninth COP meeting to Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species held

OPPORTUNITIES
Summer internship in Forest Canopy Research

UPCOMING
Symposium on Decentralization, Power and Tenure Rights of Forest-Dependent People
International Workshop on Preserving Mangrove Ecosystem Services
CSE announces one-month course on environmental management
World Ocean Conference 2009
International Course on ‘Education as a tool for species conservation with a focus on the tiger in India’
5th International Canopy Conference
---

EDITORIAL

WHO WILL POLICE THE ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES?

There has been a clutch of stories in recent issues of the PA Update (including this one) that raise uncomfortable questions about the role of government agencies like the Forest Department (FD) and the Police. In Himachal Pradesh, for instance, a beat officer was alleged to have hunted birds in the Pong Dam Wildlife Sanctuary while in the Kaziranga National Park, arrested rhino poachers said that they had bribed a police official so that they could continue with their activities.
It might be argued that these are isolated events or then, just the behaviour of deviant individuals who cannot be stopped from abusing the power that the state vests in them and that the problem, therefore, does not necessarily lie in the system itself.
The reality, as we know, is much more complex than that. There are many in the field who will argue that the involvement of enforcement agencies, be it the Police or the FD, in malafide and corrupt practices like those mentioned above are much more common than we are willing to accept. Importantly, developments like this need to be seen in the context of loud and regular demands of more and better policing, more enforcement, more arms and more powers to enforcement agencies for protecting our wildlife. For those amongst us who believe that a move towards a police state or even a more policed state has the solutions to our problems this should come as a sobering softener. And one is not even getting into the innumerable cases of police excesses and human right violations that litter our landscape today.
The February 2009 issue of the PA Update, for instance, reported the acquittal of 14 fishermen who were arrested in 2006 for trespassing the boundaries of the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary. The Orissa Forest Department (FD) had claimed in January 2006 that the fishermen were Bangladesh nationals, that they were fishing illegally in the waters of the sanctuary and that they had attacked patrolling staff. In the exchange of fire one of the intruders was killed and subsequently 14 others were also arrested. Enquiries and legal proceedings that followed revealed that the fishermen, firstly, were not Bangladeshi but residents of Kakdweep from West Bengal and that indeed they were not guilty at all. Three years later the local court pronounced them innocent and all those arrested were acquitted.
There are many questions that inevitably arise. Was it the failure of the Police and the FD to convince the court, or is the acquittal symptomatic of the problems with our judicial system? More fundamentally, were the accused really guilty of trespassing in the first place? How does one explaining the killing of one of the fishermen? Was the entire operation a frame-up by the enforcement agencies?
We also reported last time of a rather bizarre development in Madhya Pradesh where the Forest Department and the Police are accusing each other of neglecting their duties of tiger protection in the Kanha Tiger Reserve. In a letter to the National Tiger Conservation Authority in December 2008, the Kanha Director listed a number of concerns related to the working of the police: interference in the booking of forest rest houses inside the tiger reserve; not providing information about investigations into tiger poaching incidents; and even that the police seemed more interested in getting rewards for skins seized from poachers. He also expressed apprehension that informers used by the police to fight naxalism in the region might actually be directly involved in cases of poaching.
There are many other cases where NGOs or vigilance agencies within the government have exposed cases of serious negligence and corruption in the FD. The culpability of the FD in hiding the truth about tiger numbers in Sariska and Panna TRs till it was no longer possible to hide it is also well known.
Larger and very important issues arise from all this. Can conservation succeed if the agencies responsible for it fail in such a manner? How realistic is it in a situation like this to expect local communities to trust enforcement agencies, leave alone co-operate with them? Is the larger wildlife conservation community's overarching faith and trust in the apparatus of the state fully justified?
This is not a call for doing away with enforcement or the agencies themselves, but to remind ourselves that policing and force can only be one component of a bouquet of steps that are taken to deal with a problem. Lack of transparency or accountability has become the hallmark of the operations of our agencies and this is a systemic flaw that needs immediate attention. Agencies with power have to operate with additional responsibility, both, to avoid misuse and also to ensure that the citizens maintain their faith. The edifice of conservation can only be built on a foundation of mutual trust and respect and we don't seem anywhere close to reaching it.

---
PROTECTED AREA UPDATE
Vol. XV, No. 2, April 2009 (No. 78)
EDITOR: Pankaj Sekhsaria
EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE: Wrutuja Pardeshi
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
Production of PA Update 78 has been supported by Foundation for Ecological Security (FES), Anand.

Protected Area Update - Vol XV, No. 1, February 2009, (No. 77)

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

Vol. XV No. 1
February 2009 (No.77)

LIST OF CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
A departure too soon (Remembering Dr. Ravi Sankaran)

NEWS FROM INDIAN STATES

ANDHRA PRADESH
Tribals engaged to protect Kawal WLS
Study finds Pulicat under severe threat

ASSAM
Seismic survey in Brahmaputra riverbed opposed; impact on Gangetic dolphin feared
Winter apparel donated to Kaziranga NP staff
Militants lay siege on anti-poaching camp in Kaziranga NP
Kaziranga elephants on rampage in Kaliabor area
Over 100 rhino deaths in Kaziranga in 2008

HIMACHAL PRADESH
Diesel engine steamer boats causing noise pollution in Pong Dam Bird

FD to set up 9 van thanas; forest officials to get powers to arrest
FD to lease out guesthouses, sites for tourism
Breeding projects for endangered species

JHARKHAND
Team reviews tusker safety at Dalma WLS

KARNATAKA
The Greater Talacauvery Wildlife Sanctuary proposal opposed

KERALA
Forum for wetland protection by 2009

MADHYA PRADESH
Two tigresses to be translocated from Bandavgarh to Panna TR
Cops allegedly involved in tiger poaching at Kanha TR
Tourists taken into Kanha NP at night to see gaur killed by tiger
NTCA opposes highway widening project at Pench TR

Gaur translocation plans stalled following NTCA opposition

MAHARASHTRA
RFO posts lie vacant in Tadoba-Andhari TR
Coal mining leases in vicinity of Tadoba Andhari
Govt. admits that wrong tiger was killed as man-eater in Tadoba in 2007
Sanjay Gandhi NP seeks more lions for safari

Three leopard safaris for state

MEGHALAYA
Mining stopped near Balpakhram NP

ORISSA
Tourists flock to Satkosia
14 fishermen held for entering Gahirmatha marine sanctuary acquitted
Poachers employ minors to hunt migratory birds at Chilika

Over one lakh birds counted at Bhitarkanika this season
Poachers injure Bhitarkanika forest guard
Meeting held to discuss conservation and livelihood issues of Simlipal BR

RAJASTHAN
No tigress for Sariska from Ranthambhore NP

TAMIL NADU
Directory of environmentalists released
Rs Two crore for Project Tiger in TN
Huge protest against Mudumalai CTH

TRIPURA
Confusion over wildlife reserve proposal; locals fear massive displacement

UTTARAKHAND
FD again sends back Army’s proposal for land to replace Raiwala depot
Elephant population in state down by 250

UTTAR PRADESH
Efforts to protect Gangetic River dolphins
263 ghariyals to be released into the wild from Kukrail

WEST BENGAL
Mobile veterinary service for North Bengal wildlife
Proposal for new rail line to avoid elephant deaths in Dooars

FD, villagers trade charges over tiger attacks in Sunderbans

NATIONAL NEWS FROM INDIA
Central Assistance for relocation for villages from Tiger Reserves
Sanctuary Wildlife Awards 2008
Dr. Aparajita Datta selected for the 2009 Women of Discovery Award
Dog squad to sniff out illegal wildlife trade

110 tigers dead in last six years
India Biodiversity portal launched

SOUTH ASIA
Bhutan
-Steps proposed to deal with farmer-wildlife conflict

Wangchuk Centenary Park inaugurated

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
International Police Group to Tackle Wildlife Trafficking Crime Syndicates

OPPORTUNITIES
Call for proposals for conservation projects in the Western Ghats
Openings at the BNHS

UPCOMING
National Symposium on Prosopis
International seminar on Protected Area Management

EDITORIAL

A DEPARTURE TOO SOON

It was just as we were finalizing this issue of the PA Update, we got the shattering news that Dr. Ravi Sankaran had passed away after suffering a massive heart attack on January 17. It was difficult to believe at first, but as the news sank in, there was only a sense of huge sadness and deep loss. In his sudden demise the world of conservation has lost one of its most passionate, dedicated and innovative advocates.

His work on floricans, his studies of the Nicobari Megapode and Edible Nest Swiftlet in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands and analysis of the impact of the earthquake and tsunami of December 2004 on the ecology of the islands were path breaking. He tirelessly argued to allow ranching of the nest of the Edible Nest Swiftlet in the islands as a new paradigm for conservation that ensured people’s participation and also got them economic benefits. He was working on an ambitious project in Nagaland to build up the capacities of local communities and set up institutions to protect the forests and wildlife there, and more recently he had also taken over as Director of the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Nature (SACON), the institution he was associated with for a long time and deeply committed to as well.
We all have to make our departure, but when someone leaves at the very prime of his life and career, leaves so suddenly and particularly when that man is Ravi Sankaran, there can only be a vacuum. With Ravi around there was never a dull moment. He was gregarious and full of curiosity, fun and laughter. He pushed many boundaries and his great skill and capacity lay in the fact that he encouraged and showed many others how they should and could push their own limits. His was an unique personality, one that seamlessly harmonized innumerable polarities: unbearable, yet endearing at the same time; sharply critical and yet fully understanding of the same issue; quick to notice an error and quicker to admit to one of his own; challenging and inspiring; wickedly witty and deeply deeply compassionate.
Many of us in Kalpavriksh had the chance of knowing him, working with him, of being influenced by him and hopefully, of influencing him a bit as well. Many knew him personally and others knew him in more professional contexts like when he joined a workshop on community conservation in Nagaland that we had organized three years ago. We are all rich for those experiences, and poorer now that there will be no more such occasions.
Like many others I too feel immensely privileged and fortunate that I could consider Ravi a friend. I first met him nearly a decade ago, and in the years that have followed had many priceless opportunities of spending time with him in the field, particularly in the Andaman Islands. As I write this, there is an endless string of memories and images that flash by – the aristocratic élan which he smoked his pipe with; that warm hug at Chennai airport when we were meeting after a long time; sharing a meal with him and his field staff in the islands; his long pony tail, those many discussions and the many disagreements…and yes, that comment about the PA Update too. It was, if I remember right, a couple of years ago when I asked him if he thought the PA Update was useful and relevant. “Hey, stop sending it to me,” he said dismissively and without batting an eyelid, “I don’t read it anyway.” He then mumbled something to the effect that it might actually be an useful thing and I must continue working on it. Provocative, challenging, irreverent, and incisively brilliant– Ravi was all this and much more. He was a master in delivering the unexpected; in leaving people dumbfounded and groping for answers. On January 17th, he did it again; the only difference this time being that we’ll be groping much longer and he won’t even be there to help us out.
Many who read this will have their own memories and thoughts of Ravi. Please share these with us and we’d like to share it with all the others in the forthcoming issues of the PA Update. It might help us all deal with an immeasurable loss. The loss that his family feels cannot, perhaps, even be fathomed and we offer them our deepest condolences.

- Pankaj Sekhsaria

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PROTECTED AREA UPDATE
Vol. XV, No. 1, February 2009 (No. 77)

Editor: Pankaj Sekhsaria
Editorial Assistance: Wrutuja Pardeshi
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

Production of PA Update 77 has been supported by Foundation for Ecological Security (FES), Anand.