Southern States - Karnataka   

Govt.'s decision, a big blow to Project Tiger

By Our Staff Correspondent

Mysore April 6. The State Government's decision to abolish the office and post of Field Director (Project Tiger) in Bandipur contravenes the spirit of the Wildlife Conservation Strategy 2002 evolved and adopted by the Indian Board for Wildlife, last year.

The meeting was chaired by the Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee, wherein he had expressed concern over the declining respect for wildlife and issued a "wake-up call" before it was too late.

He had also noted that the shortcomings in wildlife conservation were due to the operational functions which were the responsibility of the State, and hence had appealed to the States to review the condition of wildlife and take remedial measures apart from increasing the staff engaged in conservation activities. Likewise, the Wildlife Conservation Strategy 2002 that evolved in the meeting - which was held after a gap of more than five years to take stock of the wildlife scenario in the country - clearly stated that "every protected area in the country should be managed by forest officers trained in wildlife management."

But with the abolition of the office of Field Director (Project Tiger) in Bandipur, the Government of Karnataka has dealt a crippling blow to the Centrally-funded Project Tiger, which is now virtually headless and the wildlife wing made subservient to the territorial wing.

Currently, the Deputy Director of Project Tiger has been made to report to the Conservator of Forests (Territorial) in Chamarajanagar. But the objectives of these two different wings of the Forest Department are perceived to be antithetical to their mutual existence and functioning. While one lays stress on revenue generation through forestry works and auctioning of timber, the other lays emphasis on habitat protection and conservation which impede the achievement of the first objective.

Sources pointed out that as there was no distinction between wildlife and territorial wing in Bandipur following the abolition of the field director's post, it would also blur the distinction between protection of habitat, as envisaged for wildlife conservation, and extraction of forest resources for revenue generation as both would be carried out under the same head. As a result, wildlife protection and habitat conservation programmes in Bandipur would go out of focus and get diluted following the subservience of Wildlife Wing to Territorial Wing in the Forest Department.

These fears are not an exaggeration and the Project Tiger's Status Report 2001 on Bandipur, extracts of which were made available to The Hindu, clearly states the dangers and negative factors at work in Bandipur. The report noted the severe shortage of staff, and as against the sanctioned strength of 231 posts, 74 were laying vacant. But sources pointed out that some of the personnel were employed only seasonally for fire-fighting operations etc., and as such the vacancy was more than 50 per cent at the field level. The report also noted that the staff were untrained in wildlife management while the funds allocated to the Bandipur National Park was inadequate.

Though the park received nearly Rs. 2 crore under Project Tiger, there was a shortage of at least another Rs. 2 crore to meet the cost overheads and administrative expenditure. In the absence of funds, administrative costs were being met while a negligible amount was being diverted towards habitat management.

Now that the Field Director (Project Tiger) has ceased to exist, the flow of funds from Centre would dry up. With the abolition of this office, Karnataka has earned the dubious distinction of being the first State in the country to implement such a retrograde step at a time when the tiger crisis continues to worry wildlife conservationists all over the world. The recent decision is also in continuation of a series of such regressive measures initiated by the State Government with perilous consequences for forests, environment, and wildlife.

There are 27 national parks in the country where the Project Tiger programme is under implementation and each of these is under the Field Director (Project Tiger). And Bandipur is one of the 27 national parks in the country and among the first nine to be selected under Project Tiger in 1973. The park is home to virtually most of the species found in mainland India, and is one of the few regions to play host to three species of carnivores - the tiger, the leopard, and the Indian wild dog or Dhole - apart from bison or Indian Gaur, Elephants, Spotted Deer, Sambar, Chital, and over 200 species of birds.

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