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Contents
Source– The post is based on the article “On democratising tiger conservation” published in “The Hindu” on 15th April 2023.
Syllabus: GS3- Environment
Relevance– Conservation and protection of species
News– The tiger number was recently released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is the minimum estimate based on the tigers photographed during the survey.
What are issues faced in conserving the tigers in India?
India is now losing tigers in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, the Eastern ghats and from the Northeastern forests. Genetic diversity unique to these geographical regions is lost. It is not good for maintaining long-term population viability and natural recovery.
A tool that is being used to overcome this reduction in tiger numbers is to reintroduce tigers from central Indian forests. However, if this is done too often, re-introduction will homogenise tiger genetic structure across the country. This needs to be looked at more seriously.
Why does the current approach to tiger conservation in India need to have a relook?
The tiger was considered an “umbrella species”. Saving the tiger meant saving the entire ecosystem. Habitats that have the highest tiger numbers are typically those with a high prey abundance.
But in the absence of proper scientific oversight, the focus stayed on boosting tiger numbers rather than their habitat. The most common interventions were to manipulate ecosystems to support high densities of the tiger’s principal prey species.
In most cases, this involved improving habitat for the cheetal. It also required provisioning water. This has resulted in the “cheetalification” of tiger reserves.
For example, in the Kanha Tiger Reserve, the explosion in the cheetal population resulted in the habitat becoming unsuitable for the endangered barasingha, which depends on tall grass. Managers then had to create exclosures free of cheetal so that the barasingha could reproduce and their numbers recover.
In other parks, the excessive provisioning of water during the dry season led to reduced natural, climate driven variations in populations of wildlife. This is likely to have unknown and unintended consequences for these habitats in the long-term.
Conservation in India depends entirely on a network of Protected Areas. This is an exclusive conservation model and suffers from a “sarkaar” complex. Ordinary Indians, especially those living closest to wildlife have very little say in conservation.
The WLPA is a restrictive law. It describes in great detail what you can’t do. However, the law and associated policies have done very little to enable conservation.
There is no policy framework and incentive for ordinary citizens to aid in conservation. As a result, conservation has not reached beyond these PAs.
In other countries, natural lands are owned or managed by individuals, communities, farmers, ranchers, corporates, charities, and the government. Each one of them is incentivised to conserve these lands according to their interests.
As a result, several conservation models operate simultaneously. But in India, all natural habitats are managed by one agency. The approach to conservation is singular, and exclusive.
What is the way forward for species conservation in India?
India needs to have frameworks that allow local communities, citizens, scientists, non-governmental organisations, and businesses to participate meaningfully in conservation.
Large tracts of forest land are “Reserved Forests” under the jurisdiction of State Forest Departments. Such areas can be co-managed with an inclusive approach. It also provides economic benefits for local communities.
In many landscapes, degraded agricultural lands adjoining these forest areas can be restored to enhance connectivity between Protected Areas.
