WWF - World Wide Fund for Nature

WWF is...
- The world's largest and most experienced independent conservation organisation;
- A truly global network, working in more than 90 countries;
- A challenging, constructive, science-based organisation that addresses issues from the survival of species and habitats to climate change, sustainable business and environmental education;
- A charity dependent upon its five million supporters worldwide - some 90 per cent of our income derives from voluntary sources such as people and the business community.
- An organisation that makes a difference.

Turn back the pages of history!
WWF was officially founded on 11 September 1961 amid fears that habitat destruction and hunting would soon bring about the extinction of much of Africa's wildlife. Among the distinguished group of founders were Sir Julian Huxley, the renowned biologist, and Sir Peter Scott, the naturalist and painter, who designed the original panda logo.

The organisation's international headquarters were established in Switzerland, and WWF offices were set up in many countries, starting with the UK.

By the end of the 1970s, the focus of WWF's work had broadened to encompass not only the conservation of wildlife and habitats, but also the wider implications of man's activities on the environment.

In 1980 WWF's World Conservation Strategy warned that humanity had no future unless nature and the world's natural resources were conserved. It also introduced the concept of sustainable development - living within the limits of the natural environment without compromising the needs of future generations - which has been central to WWF's thinking ever since.

Taking action for a living planet:
WWF has grown from modest beginnings into a truly global conservation organisation that has been instrumental in making the environment a matter of world concern. In addition to funding and managing countless conservation projects throughout the world, WWF continues to lobby governments and policy-makers, conduct research, influence education systems, and work with business and industry to address global threats to the planet by seeking long-term solutions.

Bengal Tiger Information

Quick Facts: 

 The common name of Bengal Tiger is tiger.

Zoological information:
 
Class: Mammalia

Order: Carnivora

Family: Felidae

Genus species: 

  Panthera (panther, leopard) tigris (tiger)

Size:  
The size of a male tiger can range upto 3 m (10 ft.), female to 2.7 m (9 ft.)

Weight:  
The weight of a male can be upto 225 kg (500 lb.), female to 135 kg (300 lb.); largest existing member of the cat family

Description: 
  The Bengal tiger has a magnificent appearance. The coat colour of this wildcat is reddish orange with narrow black, gray or brown stripes, generally in a vertical direction. The underside is creamy or white; a rare variant has a chalky white coat with darker stripes and icy blue eyes that will freeze you with fear!

Life span:
  On an average Bengal tigers survive probably not more than 15 years in the wild; 16 to 18 years in captivation environments

Sexual maturity: 
  Females achieve sexual maturity at 3 to 4 years whereas males achieve the same at the age of 4 to 5 years.

Gestation: 
  98 to 110 days; 2 to 4 cubs born

Habitat: 
  Bengal tigers dwell in tropical jungles, brush, marsh lands, and tall grasslands in fragmented areas of Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Bhutan, and Burma.

Diet:
  Bengal tigers hunt medium to large prey such as pigs, deer, antelopes, and buffalo

Status: 
  It is listed by USFWS as endangered and protected by CITES

Knowledgeable Facts:

- Since tigers hunt mostly at dusk and dawn their stripes help them hide in the shadows of tall grasses. They stalk and pounce because they are not able to chase prey a long distance.

- The territorial male tiger usually travels alone, marking his boundaries with urine, droppings, and scratch marks to warn off trespassers.

- A tiger can consume as much as 40 kg (88 lb.) of meat in one feeding.

- Tigers may drag their prey to water to eat. They are commonly seen in the shade or wading in pools to cool off.

- Since white tigers have pigmented stripes and blue eyes, they are not albinos.

- It is estimated that there are less than 3,000 Bengal tigers left in the wild.

Ecology and Conservation:

Tigers, are seated at the top-of-the-food-chain predators help in maintaining the ecological balance of populations by keeping prey populations in check. When a tiger has eaten its prey, the abandoned prey becomes the food for a variety of mammals, birds, and reptiles. Some cultures believe that powdered tiger bones have medicinal values. Unfortunately, tigers are highly in demand to supply this damaging market.

why these stripes?

 

Save Tiger!!

 

The tiger, one of the most magnificent animals in the world, is also one of the most endangered. A cat of beauty, strength, and majesty, the tiger is master of all and subject to none -- except humans. Of the eight original subspecies of tigers, three have become extinct within the last 60 years; and there are less than 50 South China tigers left on this planet -- few, and possibly none, survive in the wild.

There are five different kinds or subspecies of tiger alive in the world today. These tigers are called Siberian, South China, Indochinese, Bengal, and Sumatran. Their Latin name is Panthera tigris. Tigers are an endangered species; only about 5,000 to 7,400 tigers are left in the wild. Three tiger subspecies, the Bali, Javan, and Caspian tigers have become extinct in the past 70 years.

Poachers are continuing to exterminate the world's remaining Tigers. New demand across Southeast Asia for the skins, teeth and claws of tigers is endangering much of the great cats, particularly the Sumatran tiger. Currently, the demand for Tiger parts is centered in several parts of Asia where there is a strong market for traditional medicines made from items like tiger bone and body parts. Volumes are sizeable and there has been little enforcement action against poachers and traders

What Needs to be Done to Save the Tiger:
- Local institutions and people Scientists who were closely involved in managing tigers at the local level, Hemendra Panwar of India and Hemanta Mishra of Nepal, pointed out an important lesson more than a decade ago: unless local community needs are met, conservation of the tiger will not succeed and protected areas will perish. Therefore, conservation programmes

must reconcile the interests of people and tigers. In most situations, a sustainable tiger conservation strategy cannot be achieved without the full participation and collective action of individual rural households whose livelihoods depend on rights of access and use of the forests where tigers live.

- Technologies for conservation of resources There already exists a wide range of technologies and practices in forest and watershed management and agriculture, both traditional and new, for conservation of resources. The biological processes that regenerate forests and make agriculture less damaging to tiger habitats take time to become established

- Use of external institutions Institutions, such as NGOs, government departments, and banks, can facilitate processes by which local people develop their sense of ownership and commitment. When little effort is made to build local skills, interest, and capacity, people have no interest or stake in maintaining structures or practices once the incentives for conservation stop. Success hinges on people’s participation in planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation, which leads to the formation of new institutions or the strengthening of existing ones

- Conservation of tiger habitat and of prey In many areas peripheral to tiger habitat, grazing lands for livestock have been converted to crops or degraded by excessive use; livestock is of poor quality and of poor productivity; wood for fuel and building has been exhausted; and sources of income are limited. The rehabilitation of the natural resource base of local people is essential if they are not to seek their requirements in protected areas. This requires ecodevelopment with the support and cooperation of specialized government organs and the non-governmental conservation community.

A Species Under Threat

big cat big threat!!

The tiger (Panthera tigris) is the world’s largest cat and is one of the most threatened with extinction. As recently as 100 years ago, there were as many as 100,000 wild tigers living in Asia. Today, fewer than 3,200 remain.
Six subspecies of tigers continue to persist, but three have gone extinct in the last 80 years.
The existing subspecies are the Bengal, Indochinese, Sumatran, Amur, Malayan, and the South-China subspecies (although no signs of the South-China subspecies have been recorded in the wild in the last 10 years).
The three extinct subspecies include the Javan (last recorded in the 1970's), Caspian (lost in the 1950's) and the Bali subspecies (lost in the 1930's).
Wild tigers are still found in 13 countries in Asia: India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia (Sumatra), Cambodia, Lao PDR, Vietnam, China and Russia. However, they are extinct in 11 countries and no longer live in 93% of their historic range.
Tigers are currently listed as “Endangered” on the International Union of the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.

The primary threats facing tigers are:

• Wild tigers are being directly hunted to meet the demands of the illegal wildlife trade market. Tiger parts are consumed for traditional medicinal purposes across Asia, with a heavy demand in China. The international illegal trade in wildlife products is a booming business, and is estimated to yield more than $6 billion a year.
• Not only are tigers hunted, but their wild prey, like deer and wild pigs, have been overhunted by people either for subsistence or for sale.  A depleted prey base means that tigers will often attack livestock to feed themselves and their cubs, thus fueling human-tiger conflict.
• Due to an increasing human population, humans and tigers are living in close proximity in many places across their range, which far too often results in human-tiger conflict situations. Wild tigers are frequently persecuted when villagers take retaliatory measures to protect their livestock.
• Tigers need intact habitat in order to survive but their habitat is increasingly under threat and either being destroyed or fragmented from agricultural developments, especially large monocultures like palm oil plantations.

Project Tiger

past present and future!!

Past

Project Tiger: Project Tiger, launched in 1973-74, is one of our most successful conservation ventures in the recent times. The project aims at tiger conservation in specially constituted 'tiger reserves', which are representative of various bio-geographical regions falling within our country. It strives to maintain a viable tiger population in the natural environment.

An estimate of the tiger population in India, at the turn of the century, placed the figure at 40,000. Subsequently, the first ever all India tiger census was conducted in 1972 which revealed the existence of only 1827 tigers. Various pressures in the later part of the last century led to the progressive decline of wilderness, resulting in the disturbance of viable tiger habitats. At the IUCN General Assembly meeting in Delhi, in 1969, serious concern was voiced about the threat to several species of wildlife and the shrinkage of wilderness in the country. In 1970, a national ban on tiger hunting was imposed and in 1972 the Wildlife Protection Act came into force. A 'Task Force' was then set up to formulate a project for tiger conservation with an ecological approach.

The project was launched in 1973, and various tiger reserves were created in the country on a 'core-buffer' strategy. The core areas were freed from all sorts of human activities and the buffer areas were subjected to 'conservation oriented land use'. Management plans were drawn up for each tiger reserve, based on the principles outlined below:

1. Elimination of all forms of human exploitation and biotic disturbance from the core area and rationalization of activities in the buffer zone.
2. Restricting the habitat management only to repair the damages done to the eco-system by human and other interferences, so as to facilitate recovery of the eco-system to its natural state.
3. Monitoring the faunal and floral changes over time and carrying out research about wildlife.

Initially, 9 tiger reserves were established in different States during the period 1973-74, by pooling the resources available with the Central and State Governments. These nine reserves covered an area of about 13,017sq.km-viz Manas (Assam), Palamau (Bihar), Similipal (Orissa), Corbett (U.P.), Kanha (M.P.), Melghat (Maharashtra), Bandipur (Karnataka), Ranthambhore (Rajasthan) and Sunderbans (West Bengal).

The project started as a 'Central Sector Scheme' with the full assistance of Central Government till 1979-80: later, it become a 'centrally Sponsored Scheme' from 1980-81, with equal sharing of expenditure between the center and the states.

The W.W.F. has given an assistance of US $ 1 million in the form of equipments, expertise and literature. The various States are also bearing the loss on account of giving up the forestry operations in the reserves.

The main achievements of this project are excellent recovery of the habitat and consequent increase in the tiger population in the reserve areas, from a mere 268 in 9 reserves in 1972 to 1576 in 27 reserves in 2003. Tiger, being at the apex of the food chain, can be considered as the indicator of the stability of the eco-system. For a viable tiger population, a habitat should possess a good prey base, which in turn will depend on an undisturbed forest vegetation. Thus, 'Project Tiger', is basically the conservation of the entire eco-system and apart from tigers, all other wild animals also have increased in number in the project areas. In the subsequent 'Five Year Plans', the main thrust was to enlarge the core and buffer zones in certain reserves, intensification of protection and ecodevelopment in the buffer zones of existing tiger reserves, creation of additional tiger reserves and strengthening of the research activities.

The management strategy was to identify the limiting factors and to mitigate them by suitable management. The damages done to the habitat were to be rectified, so as to facilitate the recovery of eco-system to the maximum possible extent. Management practices which tend to push the wildlife populations beyond the carrying capacity of the habitat were carefully avoided. A minimum core of 300 sq. km. with a sizeable buffer was recommended for each project area. The overall administration of the project is monitored by a 'Steering Committee'. The execution of the project is done by the respective State Governments. A 'Field Director' is appointed for each reserve, who is assisted by the field and technical personnel. The Chief Wildlife warden in various States are responsible for the field execution. At the Centre, a full-fledged 'Director' of the project coordinates the work for the country.

 Present

Wireless communication system and outstation patrol camps have been developed within the tiger reserves, due to which poaching has declined considerably. Fire protection is effectively done by suitable preventive and control measure Voluntory Village relocation has been done in many reserves, especially from the core, area. In Kanha, Bandipur and Ranthambhore, all the villages have been shifted from the core, and after relocation, the villagers have been provided with alternate agricultural lands and other community benefits. This has resulted in the improvement of the carrying capacity of the habitat. Live stock grazing has been controlled to a great extent in the tiger reserves. Various compensatory developmental works have improved the water regime and the ground and field level vegetations, thereby increasing the animal density. Research data pertaining to vegetational changes are also available from many reserves. In general, the 'restorative management' and 'intense protection' under 'Project Tiger' have saved many of our eco-typical areas from destruction. The area around the buffer is now contemplated as a zone of multiple use, to bring compatibility between the reserves and the neighbouring communities.

Future

a) Use of Information and Communication technology in Wildlife Protection and Crime Risk Management in Tiger reserves.

Wildlife protection and crime risk management in the present scenario requires a widely distributed Information Network, using the state-of-art Information and Communication Technology. This becomes all the more important to ensure the desired level of protection in field formations to safeguard the impressive gains of a focused project like 'Project Tiger'. The important elements in Wildlife protection and control are: Mapping/plotting the relative spatial abundance of wild animals, identification of risk factors, proximity to risk factors, sensitivity categorization, crime mapping and immediate action for apprehending the offenders based on effective networking and communication. Space technology has shown the interconnectivity of natural and anthropogenic phenomena occurring anywhere on earth. Several Tiger Reserves are being linked with the Project Tiger Directorate in the GIS domain for Wildlife Crime Risk Management.

b) GIS based digitized database and MIS development/networking in Tiger Reserves:

With the advanced IT tools, a wide gamut of software solutions are available to improve wildlife related information capture process, its analysis and informed decision making. Geographic Information System is the most relevant of these technologies for natural resource management projects, including wildlife management. The mandate of project tiger is to conserve tigers in a holistic manner. The GIS based database at PTHQ is being linked with the microcomputers in the Tiger Reserves, so that a dynamic linkage for rapid information flow is established using Arc IMS facility.

c) Tiger Habitat & Population Evaluation System for the Indian Sub Continent

A 'Tiger Atlas of India' and a 'Tiger Habitat & Population Evaluation System for the country is being developed using the state- of - the - art technology.
This involves:

1. Mapping , data acquisition and GIS modeling
2. Field data collection and validation
3. Data Maintenance , Dissemination and Use
The following potential tiger habitats in the country are being covered:
>Shivalik-Terai Conservation Unit(Uttaranchal, UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Nepal)
>Nort east Conservation Unit
>Sunderbans Conservation Unit
>Central Indian Conservation Unit
>Eastern Ghat Conservation Unit
>Western Ghat Conservation Unit

Satellite data is being used and classified into vegetation and land use maps on a 1:50,000 scale, with digitized data relating to contour , villages, roads , drainage , administrative boundaries and soil . The spatial layers would be attached with attribute data , viz. human population , livestock population , meteorological data, agricultural information and field data pertaining to wildlife, habitat for evolving regional protocols to monitor tiger and its habitat.

Vision For the Future   The dynamics of forest management and wildlife conservation have been distorted due to need for income, lack of awareness, lack of landuse policy and population pressure. Since the traditional use systems of people are neither static nor benign, these should not be overlooked. A regional development approach in landscapes having Tiger Reserves is of utmost importance in our country. It should be viewed as a mosaic of different landuse patterns, viz, tiger conservation / preservation, forestry, sustainable use and development, besides socio-economic growth. Tiger habitats exist in environments of thousands of indigenous communities which depend on them. Therefore we cannot view these protected areas in isolation from the surrounding socio-economic realities and developmental priorities of the Govt. This calls for a cross-sectoral and cross-disciplinary approach. Tigers now need a "preservationist" approach. Regional planning is important around Tiger Reserves to foster ecological connectivity between protected areas through restorative inputs with integrated landuse planning. The management plan of a Tiger Reserve, therefore, needs to be integrated in larger regional management plans.

Is a complete ban on wildlife tourism in core areas justified?

  is this ''justified''

The hon'ble Supreme Court in its order dated 24 July 2012 has put a stop on all tourism activities in the core zones of the tiger reserves in India. The SC will hold the final hearing in this case on 22 August 2012 wherein the final outcome of this case will be clear. While in principle, we all agree that wildlife tourism in India needs to be controlled and strictly regulated, placing a complete ban on any kind of tourism activities in the core areas will certainly not help the wildlife of the tiger reserves. 

The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (WLPA), as amended in 2006, specifies that the core zones or ‘critical tiger / wildlife habitats’ must be inviolate for a sustainable population of tigers in tiger reserves. The guidelines were circulated by the NTCA in November 2011. Having inviolate habitat for tigers (and other wildlife species) is an ‘ideal’ situation for conservation; it is unfair to blame only the tourism sector for the depletion of tigers in India, as is the basis and assumption for this petition. Tigers in Sariska and Panna were wiped out completely. Were the tourists responsible for this debacle? Obviously not. The tigers were killed by poachers. If having no tourism in core areas was good for wildlife, the tigers reserves like Buxa (in West Bengal) and Palamou (in Jharkhand), where wildlife tourism has been almost non-existent, should have been the models of sustainable tiger populations since 1973 when the Project Tiger was launched in India. However, the situation is otherwise. As per the tiger census data of 2010 released by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the tiger population in Buxa (and Manas together) is 9+ in 1349 sq km and in Palamou it is between 6-13 in 1116 sq km. Why didn’t the tiger numbers rise in all these years? There are sufficient scientific evidences to prove that tigers if offered decent protection with good habitat and sufficient prey base can thrive well. The fact that these areas failed to show good tiger numbers could be a pointer on the mismanagement of these tiger reserves and perhaps a greater threat to the tiger populations here due to poaching. In contrast, the tiger reserves like Kanha, Bandhavgarh, Bandipur, Ranthambhor and Corbett, which are popular destinations for wildlife tourism, have shown stable or increase in tiger populations in 2010, as compared to the previous census data of 2006.

In May 2012, the country was shocked by a series of killings of tigers outside the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra by poachers. The poachers chose to trap the unfortunate tigers outside (or the so-called buffer zones) of the tiger reserve. It must be noted here that Tadoba is yet another popular wildlife tourism destination. The regular movement of tourists inside the reserve obviously keeps the poachers away from these areas. When the tigers are not safe in a popular tiger reserve like Tadoba, one can’t even imagine the fate of tigers in the reserve forest areas and corridors that are good tiger habitats but do not have the status of tiger reserve or national park or wildlife sanctuary. As there is no attempt to estimate the tiger numbers in such areas, the loss of tigers simply goes unnoticed. The NTCA should be worried about these areas and take immediate steps to protect these tiger populations.

Wildlife tourism in India is a developing sector. Lakhs of tourists, from India and abroad, visit the tiger reserves just to catch a glimpse of our national animal. Corbett Tiger Reserve alone has over two lakh tourists annually. To cater to these tourists, tourist infrastructure is developed around these tiger reserves. Thousands of local and forest-dependent communities have been employed or have benefited directly or indirectly due to wildlife tourism. The locals are employed as nature guides, naturalists and resort staff, engaged as daily wage labourers, plumbers, garage workers, drivers, safari vehicle owners, providers of vegetables & poultry products, contractors, tribal artists, etc. The lives of all these stake-holders have been strongly linked to and dependent on wildlife tourism of the tiger reserves. A complete ban on tourism in core areas will seriously affect the well being of these stake-holders. Antagonizing the locals might spell a doom for the wildlife in the area. There are enough examples of displaced or disgruntled people directly or indirectly responsible for killing wildlife and destroying habitat out of vengeance. Since the last few weeks, Naxal movements have been seen in the buffer zone of Kanha Tiger Reserve around Mukki area. Most of the forest chowkies (posts) in these areas have been deserted by the forest department staff due to the fear of Naxalites! Having no tourist movement in the park will only help the Naxalites. Worse, there is always the fear of more jobless people getting pulled in Naxalism in the Naxal-affected regions.

The NTCA, through its revised guidelines circulated in November 2011, recommends establishing tiger safaris and other awareness infrastructure in the buffer zones of tiger reserves. Till date several States like Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Karnataka and Maharashtra have failed to yet delineate core and buffer zones in tiger reserves. The hon’ble Supreme Court expressed its displeasure over this and slapped a fine of Rs.10,000 on each State for failing to respond to its previous notice within a stipulated time period. If the NTCA is so much concerned about the core zones or critical wildlife habitats, why did it not pressurize the tiger reserves to notify such an important area? 

In the last two decades, the infrastructure for tourism has developed around the tiger reserves on a large-scale. Hundreds of resorts have been permitted to construct and operate their properties without any guidelines or restrictions; in some places to the extent of blocking vital wildlife corridors. While this is of grave concern, what was the MoEF doing all these years when this infrastructure was being created and threats pointed out by experts in several forums in the past? Which government department allowed this development? This privately owned tourist infrastructure is developed outside the boundaries of the tiger reserves. But what about the tourism infrastructure owned and operated by the forest department inside the critical tiger habitat? Few notable examples being Dhikala Tourism Complex inside Corbett Tiger Reserve, The ITDC Forest Lodge inside the Keoladeo National Park at Bharatpur, MPTDC Bagheera Loghuts in Kanha Tiger Reserve and the KTDC with Aranya Niwas and The Lake Palace inside Periyar Tiger Reserve. A striking example is Jhirna Forest Rest House in Corbett that has been converted into a canteen for tourists. The canteen, the operation of which is outsourced by the forest department to a private entity, serves snacks in non-biodegradable packaging, there are no sufficient waste bins, and non-biodegradable trash is littered everywhere. One can see so many rhesus macaques and common langurs feeding on these leftovers and at times attacking tourists. The story is not much different in case of Kanha and Bandhavgarh tiger reserves. Exercising strict rules is certainly in the hands of the forest department but was never followed within the forests they governed and managed despite several complaints by well meaning tourists and conservationists.

The eco-tourism guidelines propose to allow only 10-15% of the area of a PA for tourism. The guidelines also say that ecotourism will only be conducted in buffer areas instead of in core zones. As everyone knows, buffer areas in most PAs do not have a high density of wild animals and therefore the possibility of sighting wildlife is less. The WLPA permits grazing by cattle and collection of minor forest products in the buffer zones of tiger reserves. One can see huge herds of domestic cattle in buffer zones of many tiger reserves including the high profile Corbett, Kanha, Bandhavgarh and Ranthambhor tiger reserves. If the buffer zones are to be developed or utilised for tourism,  does it have any back up plan to ban or control cattle grazing in buffer zones as they compete with herbivores for the same habitat?

There could be many more such contradicting examples of lack of coordination, planning and proper management of tiger reserves between various government departments in the interest of wildlife conservation. The entire system has failed to enforce the existing laws and ensure conservation of tigers and other flagship species and their critical wildlife habitat. 

Banning tourism in core areas is certainly not a remedy to this mismanagement. Wildlife tourism cannot be singled out and blamed for all this mess created by the system. Instead of this blame game, the NTCA should engage in a serious dialogue with all concerned stake-holders and come at a viable and sustainable solution to sort the issue. ‘Controlled Wildlife Tourism’ is the key to this problem. Instead of a complete ban, wildlife tourism in an extremely controlled form should be permitted in some parts of the core areas. The infrastructure here should be bare minimum with no luxuries whatsoever but with clean facilities. The power generation should be only solar or biomass based, water should be harvested rainwater, strictly no use of polythene bags, battery-operated vehicles for safaris with a controlled speed limit should be used. 

Certain areas of buffer zones should be demarcated as wildlife tourism areas, where no cattle grazing and other forms of human disturbances to be allowed. Only then the resident wildlife will use these areas as habitat and the tourists will get the feel of being in a forest that is as good as a core area. Setting up of wildlife information / interpretation centres constructed on the principles of ‘green buildings’ should be encouraged and designed in such a way that every tourist have to visit these before entering the tiger reserves. Canteen facilities in the buffer zones should be strictly given only to the Self Help Groups formed by the local tribes and communities. NGOs should be involved in training these SHGs to run these facilities. Nature trails, photography hides, watch towers should be developed for providing good and educational wildlife experiences to tourists. The concept of Home Stays should be encouraged in the buffer zones.

While no further permission to be granted to new resorts within 5 km radius of the tiger reserves, the following guidelines should be in place to be followed by the existing private resorts:

• All resorts must take care of at least 40% of their energy requirements through non-renewable sources like solar energy and biomass-based energy.  
• Harvesting of rainwater and ground water recharge should be made compulsory with restrictions on drawing of ground water for use in resorts.
• Strictly no form of loud music should be allowed in the resorts, except in sound-proof rooms.
• Composting of kitchen and organic waste should be compulsory for every resort. Inorganic and non-biodegradable waste to be disposed off at least 5 km away from the buffer zone of the tiger reserve. A system should be developed for collection and dumping of this waste with the involvement of local gram panchayats or municipalities at an identified location that could be an old abandoned quarry or any other wasteland.

Wildlife tourism is an important tool that should be properly utilized for spreading awareness about tigers and other wildlife species among the people of India and the world. Watching of wildlife films on National geographic, Animal Planet and Discovery channels cannot be a substitute for actually seeing a tiger in the wild. The experience of sighting a tiger in its natural environment has changed many lives. Had many of our wildlife researchers, conservationists, environmentalists, park managers not seen a tiger in the wild or had no access to our tiger reserves, would they have been the same persons they are today? The wildlife has to be experienced to have a feeling for it. This passion and concern for wildlife cannot be obtained or developed by just watching films, however good they are.

'total disaster'

Tiger population of India facing 'total disaster' due to tourism ban!!

 High court decree condemned by environmentalists as well as those who earn their living from the endangered beast.

It is not difficult to guess which animal the town of Sawai Madhopur has tethered its fortunes to. Fancy a drink? Pop into the Tiger bar at the Taj hotel. Want to rest your head? Try the Tiger Moon Resort. Want to shop? There are tiger-print pyjamas, aprons, tablecloths, bedspreads. Little in this Rajasthani town has not succumbed to tiger mania.
Sitting cross-legged on a stage by the main road last Saturday, Yadvendra Singh handed over his business card, decorated, of course, with orange and black stripes. Since 1992 he has run Tiger Eye Adventure Tours, taking visitors from around the world on safari inside the nearby Ranthambore national park.
But for the past three weeks, Singh has not been allowed in the park to check on the 27 adult tigers and 25 cubs who call it home. No one has, after India's supreme court issued an order banning tourism in all core tiger habitats.
The decree was temporary, until 22 August, when the court meets again to assess whether tigers and tourists can co-exist in India. The decision will have ramifications not just for India's approximately 1,700 tigers, but for the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of Indians whose livelihoods depend on the big cats.
"I couldn't believe it," said Singh. "I've spent 20 years, half my life, doing this. And suddenly I'm supposed to find a new job."
But Singh, and many environmentalists and conservationists, insist the real losers will be the creatures who have helped pay his bills for two decades. "If the ban on tourism continues, it will be the end of the tiger in India," he said. "We're the ones who put energy into tracking them. We deter poachers. Tourists are only allowed in the park for six hours every day, but we guides take it in turns to patrol the park from sunrise to sunset. Voluntarily."

 Belinda Wright, executive director of the wildlife Protection Society of India, based in New Delhi, said a tourist ban would be a "total disaster".
Stressing she was pro-tiger rather than pro-tourist, she said: "There is no way the forestry department alone can protect tigers from poachers and local encroachment on the land."
The Corbett Foundation, another wildlife protection charity in India, agrees. "While in principle, we all agree that wildlife tourism in India needs to be controlled and strictly regulated, placing a complete ban on any kind of tourism activities in the core areas will certainly not help the wildlife of the tiger reserves," it said in a statement.
Since the court's judgment on 24 July, Singh has not earned a penny. Along with dozens of other guides and drivers who feed their families by servicing the tiger tourists who flock to Ranthambore every year, he has been holding a roadside protest to remind the authorities how integral tigers are to the town.
There are no reliable figures to show how many tourists visit Sawai Madhopur each year, but in 2011, 288,000 tickets were sold to enter the national park. Demand is much higher, say locals, but numbers are restricted so a maximum of 40 vehicles carrying a total of 520 tourists are in the park at any one time.
The interim order has hit hard, said Goverdhan Singh Rathore, a doctor who runs a free hospital from the profit made from his guest house, Khem Villas. "We've already had 10% of bookings for next season cancelled," he said, sitting in the courtyard of his house, which is decorated with orange and black striped tiles. "Forty per cent of guests have asked us to let them know what happens on the 22nd. If the ban is extended, next season is over." He would have to close the hotel, and the hospital, which treated 90,000 patients last year, he added.
Ajay Dubey, a campaigner who filed the petition to the supreme court, said all he was doing was asking it to enforce the 1972 Wildlife Protection Act. He claims the act prohibits tourism in India's tiger breeding areas. "By God's grace I just want respect of rule of law – nothing else," he said in an email.
No one was enforcing the law, Dubey added, and with tragic results. He points to the central state of Madhya Pradesh (MP), which has six tiger reserves. "There were 700 tigers in MP in the year 2000; now the number has come down to 257," said Dubey. "It speaks volumes."
He added: "Tiger conservation is being adversely affected by mindless tourism; the large number of vehicles loaded with people were traumatising the endangered species in the critical tiger habitat."

But Wright said Dubey was using unreliable figures. "Until the 2008 census, the tiger population was calculated using a discredited, unscientific method which allowed states to dramatically overestimate," she said over the phone in Delhi.
The law says tiger reserves should have a core area that only forestry officials enter, surrounded by buffer land that can be visited by tourist vehicles. In April, the court ordered 13 states with tiger parks to file their zoning plans. Only three complied, amid difficulties in creating the buffers related to land acquisition, compensation for relocated villagers and local politics.
Angered by the states' poor response, on 24 July the supreme court made an interim order banning all tourism from the core zones until the states complied. They have until 22 August to do so, until which time interested parties, such as guides and state governments, can submit evidence arguing why they believe tourists should be allowed in core areas.
In Ranthambore that means not just the 393 sq km national park but also just over 900 sq km of adjoining land. YK Sahu, divisional forest officer at Ranthambore, said he believed that the presence of believes tourists saved tigers rather than endangered them.
"Look at where our tigers live. Just 6% to 10% of the park is visited by tourists, and yet it is in those areas where tigers flourish."
Tourists also report illegal wood cutting, he said, and help deter poachers. "If the Taj Mahal was not a tourist site, would it look as it does in its present form?", he asked. "All of the marble would have been stolen by now."
Rathore, whose father, Fateh, founded the non-governmental organisation Tiger Watch and who was one of India's most renowned tiger experts until his death last year, said there was "not one scrap of evidence" to prove tourists kill tigers, directly or indirectly, or hamper their breeding. In fact, he claims, "the relationship between the presence of tourists and the number of tigers is not inversely proportional, but directly proportional." In 2005-06, the park had 26 tigers. Despite increasing tourism, the population risen to 53.
"People make up their mind that tourism is bad for tigers without consulting science. They see a picture of a queue of jeeps filled with tourists with long lens cameras pointing at a tiger and they say, 'poor tiger'. But how do they know that the tiger is unhappy? Maybe the tiger is enjoying it. Ecology tells us that when a creature is upset, they stop breeding. Yet in Ranthambore the tiger population has increased with tourism."
The supreme court seems to want the tiger states to restrict tourism to the buffer zones. But the problem in Ranthambore, as well as other reserves, is that the only area it can designate as buffer is not somewhere tourists would want to visit – let alone tigers. There, the buffer is a wilderness with very little flora or fauna, littered with gravel mines. To reach the zone, tigers would have to travel 35 miles from the main park, and even cross main roads.
There are also many people living in the buffer – 62 villages have been relocated there from the core area since the 1970s. Before tiger tourism came to the area, they made their living chopping down trees in the tiger reserve and, in some cases, poaching tigers to serve the lucrative Chinese medicine market.
In Kanha national park, a tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh, tribal people this week held a protest against the tourism ban.

 "You do what you can to earn a living, whether that means cutting down trees … or even hunting tigers" one man told NDTV.

Back in Ranthambore, August is always a lean month because most of the park is closed anyway during the monsoon. But some tourists usually come to visit the three zones that normally remain open, and fears are widespread about the effect of a permanent ban on the community.
"It's not just the guides who will be affected," said Singh as he protested by the roadside. "It's the mechanics who service the jeeps, the hawkers who sell T-shirts, the hoteliers, the women who make handicrafts."
"If tourists are not allowed in the core tiger zone, our economy will collapse," said Satish Jain, who has been a guide in the park since 1997.
"Our economy is based on tourism. It has to be – a lot of people used to be employed in a cement factory, but that was closed because of the national park. There was a gas bottling plant, but that was shut down too. How do they expect us to earn a living?"