Tourism ban in core areas of tiger reserves…..Neha Sethi
The Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily banned any form of tourism in the core areas of tiger reserves to aid conservation efforts.
We make it clear that till final directions are issued by this court, the core zones or core areas in the tiger reserves will not be used for tourism, justices Swatanter Kumar and Ibrahim Kalifulla said in their order.
The core zone is an area determined on the basis of scientific and objective criteria as required to be kept inviolate for tiger conservation. For instance, the Corbett tiger reserves total area is 1318.54 sq. km., while its core area is 520 sq. km.
Right to information activist Ajay Dubey had filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court in July 2011 after his petition to ban tourism in the core areas of tiger reserves was rejected by the Madhya Pradesh high court in January that year.
Dubey welcomed the order. The Wildlife Act was ineffective for an endangered species like the tiger, but this judgement will make sure that the Act is implemented, he said over the phone from Bhopal. Tiger numbers in the country will improve, he said.
The ruling is not the final decision of the court, said Anuradha Mutatkar, counsel for the Association of Jungle Lodges of Kanha. The ban on tourism in the core areas is till 22 August, when the Supreme Court will give a final ruling in this matter. The SC (Supreme Court) will look into the guidelines prepared by the National Tiger Conservation Authority and give a final decision, she said.
Officials of the ministry of environment and forests said they cannot comment until they received an official order.
Conservation efforts have helped reduce tiger deaths, increasing their numbers to 1,706 in 2010 from 1,411 in 2006, according to the latest official numbers available.
But some activists worry that the large number of tourists visiting tiger reserves may be disturbing their habitats. India has 41 tiger reserves. The most visited among themCorbett, Kanha, Periyar, Ranthambore and Bandhavgarhattract 150,000-200,000 visitors each every year.
A tiger task force constituted in 2005 to review the management of tiger reserves had recommended that tourism activities should not be allowed in the core of the national parks and the tiger reserves, and that wildlife tourism need to be regulated.
Tourism in tiger reserves needs to be extremely well managed to ensure that the direct impact on the habitats due to tourism is mitigated. The chain of command as well as the management of tourism in tiger reserves has suffered from multiple governing institutions as well as confusion in policy and regulations so far, the task force said in its report, adding, Done badly, it (tourism) can lead to further stress on the tigers habitat.
But Vishal Singh, director of the Travel Operators for Tigers lobby group, said there was no scientific evidence to prove that the number of tigers was going down because of tourism.
Blanket ban in core areas is not the solution. Rules will have to be different for each park, he said, adding that since the best tiger sightings are in the core areas, tourism revenue will be affected.
Belinda Wright of the Wildlife Protection Society of India said, Tourists act like the eyes and ears for protection of tigers and tigers have lost them today.
PTI contributed to this story.