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Journalism of Courage
What has the Rajasthan government proposed?
The Forest Department recently sent a proposal to the state government to allow tiger safaris through the day at the Ranthambore National Park, as against the present regulated system of a three-hour slot each in the morning and evening. The Forest Department has also prposed to open the park for night safaris, and charge special, higher tariffs for both these experiences from tourists.
So what’s the problem with that?
Some environmentalists are opposing the proposals saying they go against the basic principles of tiger conservation and violate the official eco-tourism guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) notified in 2012.
They say tiger reserves and other protected zones should not be treated like regular tourist spots. The purpose of these zones, they argue, is conservation. While tiger tourism is exciting, it cannot be given priority over conservation. They say the government is acting under pressure from Ranthambore’s thriving tourism industry lobby by focusing too much on the park, while ignoring the state’s other tiger reserves.
Tourism in Ranthambore has been a contentious issue, with the Forest Department facing flak for shifting out the tiger T24, aka Ustad, from the wild to a zoo in Udaipur after it allegedly killed a forest guard last year. Only last week, the state Anti Corruption Bureau had raided the park and allegedly found more than the permitted number of vehicles and tourists inside.
Activists have threatened to take the matter to the Supreme Court, where a petition challenging tourism inside tiger reserves is already pending.
Is this the first time such a proposal is being made? And why Ranthambore?
Yes, this is a first. Ranthambore is one of India’s premium tiger reserves when it comes to tourism. (The others are Kanha, Bandhavgarh, Jim Corbett, Nagarhole and Mudumalai.) It is devoid of thick canopy cover and boasts a healthy population of big cats, making sightings frequent. The park drives the region’s thriving tourism industry, and some complain that other Rajasthan reserves like Sariska and Mukundara Hills (which is actually more of a big cat corridor than a permanent home) have been overlooked.
What does the NTCA say about tourism in tiger reserves?
The NTCA is the apex body for the conservation of the national animal. Under Supreme Court directions, it notified a comprehensive set of guidelines on October 15, 2012 on tourism in Project Tiger areas. The SC lifted an interim ban on tourism in tiger reserves, and asked all states to adhere to these guidelines.
The objective of the guidelines, the gazette notification says, is to move from “wildlife tourism to eco-tourism, which is (distinct from mass tourism and is) defined as responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well being of local people”.
They stress on regulated, low-impact tourism in core and buffer areas of tiger reserves, under a reserve-specific tourism plan that is part of the Tiger Conservation Plan.
“The primary objective of tiger reserves,” the guidelines say, “is to conserve tiger source populations that also act as an umbrella for biodiversity conversation. Unplanned and unregulated tourism in such landscapes can destroy the very environment that attracts such tourism in the first place”.
State governments must formulate eco-tourism policies in line with these guidelines, ensuring among other things that eco-tourism does not get relegated to purely high-end, exclusive tourism.
The reserve-specific plan must include a “monitoring mechanism, estimated carrying capacity, tourism zones and demarcation of the area open to tourism on the basis of objective and scientific criteria”. It also requires the reserve administration to “set a ceiling on number of visitors allowed to enter a tiger reserve at any given time based on the carrying capacity of the habitat.”
Wildlife activist Ajay Dube, whose petition challenging tourism in tiger reserves — still pending in the SC — resulted in the interim ban on tourism and the NTCA issuing comprehensive guidelines, says the Rajasthan government’s proposals are likely to violate the carrying capacity of the reserve. He plans to bring the issue to the SC’s notice through an intervening application.
So what happens now?
As of now, the Forest Department’s proposals await the state government’s approval.
