Mrudul Godbole
09-04-2011, 11:09 PM
Expert against Nagzira curtailment
Vijay Pinjarkar, TNN, Apr 7, 2011, 01.38am IST
NAGPUR: The state wildlife department's move to curtail proposed Nagzira-Navegaon tiger reserve area by confining it to its present core has been opposed by leading conservationist and chairman of Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) M K Ranjitsinh.
Based on the TOI report on the issue on March 15, Ranjitsinh has written to minister for environment and forest Jairam Ramesh about the government's plan. "I personally feel the present alignment of the proposed tiger reserve and especially the core areas, will not enhance conservation status of this very fine habitat. One should not accept such truncated and unviable areas as tiger reserves," said Ranjitsinh.
Just giving the title of a tiger reserve while doing nothing on the field to enhance viability and the conservation capacity of the existing areas is tantamount to self-deception and will create apprehensions and opposition amongst the neighbouring communities without achieving conservation goals, Ranjitsinh said.
He pointed out that in case of Nagzira-Navegaon, the situation is further compounded by the fact that there will be two small, separate existing protected areas, separated by almost 40 km of forest whose status will only be 'buffer', which has no real legal stature.
The WTI chief has urged Ramesh to settle for nothing less than 400 sq km reserve proposal. It should include original Nagzira area of 153 sq km, plus the previously proposed 155 sq km comprising reserve forests of Umarzari with Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM), Bhandara, and the area with Gondia Forest Division, besides existing Navegaon National Park of 133 sq km.
"You will recall that I had drawn your attention to the proposed exclusion of certain crucial forests in the declaration of the long overdue Mansingdeo sanctuary. Your very prompt intervention saved the situation and the conservation community is grateful for it," Ranjitsinh reminded Ramesh. He added that a similar situation seemed to have emerged again in Maharashtra. The state was going back on an earlier understanding on its part.
In September 2009, Ramesh had written to chief minister asking him to declare Navegaon-Nagzira a tiger reserve. On this basis, a proposal was prepared. It would have included 153 sq km of existing Nagzira sanctuary, plus an additional 155 sq km comprising 126 sq km area of FDCM, 27 sq km of Gondia forest division and 133 sq km of existing Navegaon Park. "I've been trying to upgrade Navegaon and Nagzira and corridor between these two PAs since 1985," Ranjitsinh said.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) norms state that an inviolate space of 800-1000 sq km was needed to ensure viable populations of tigers and other wild animals (co-predators, prey and forest), thereby ensuring ecological viability of the entire habitat.
Wildlife wing officials admitted that Section 38V of the amended Wildlife Protection Act (WPA) 1972 stated that core area of the sanctuary could be a tiger reserve and hence the adjoining areas of both the PAs would be in tiger reserve's buffer.
Link - Expert against Nagzira curtailment - Times Of India (http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-07/nagpur/29391820_1_sq-km-tiger-reserve-umarzari)
Vijay Pinjarkar, TNN, Apr 7, 2011, 01.38am IST
NAGPUR: The state wildlife department's move to curtail proposed Nagzira-Navegaon tiger reserve area by confining it to its present core has been opposed by leading conservationist and chairman of Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) M K Ranjitsinh.
Based on the TOI report on the issue on March 15, Ranjitsinh has written to minister for environment and forest Jairam Ramesh about the government's plan. "I personally feel the present alignment of the proposed tiger reserve and especially the core areas, will not enhance conservation status of this very fine habitat. One should not accept such truncated and unviable areas as tiger reserves," said Ranjitsinh.
Just giving the title of a tiger reserve while doing nothing on the field to enhance viability and the conservation capacity of the existing areas is tantamount to self-deception and will create apprehensions and opposition amongst the neighbouring communities without achieving conservation goals, Ranjitsinh said.
He pointed out that in case of Nagzira-Navegaon, the situation is further compounded by the fact that there will be two small, separate existing protected areas, separated by almost 40 km of forest whose status will only be 'buffer', which has no real legal stature.
The WTI chief has urged Ramesh to settle for nothing less than 400 sq km reserve proposal. It should include original Nagzira area of 153 sq km, plus the previously proposed 155 sq km comprising reserve forests of Umarzari with Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM), Bhandara, and the area with Gondia Forest Division, besides existing Navegaon National Park of 133 sq km.
"You will recall that I had drawn your attention to the proposed exclusion of certain crucial forests in the declaration of the long overdue Mansingdeo sanctuary. Your very prompt intervention saved the situation and the conservation community is grateful for it," Ranjitsinh reminded Ramesh. He added that a similar situation seemed to have emerged again in Maharashtra. The state was going back on an earlier understanding on its part.
In September 2009, Ramesh had written to chief minister asking him to declare Navegaon-Nagzira a tiger reserve. On this basis, a proposal was prepared. It would have included 153 sq km of existing Nagzira sanctuary, plus an additional 155 sq km comprising 126 sq km area of FDCM, 27 sq km of Gondia forest division and 133 sq km of existing Navegaon Park. "I've been trying to upgrade Navegaon and Nagzira and corridor between these two PAs since 1985," Ranjitsinh said.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) norms state that an inviolate space of 800-1000 sq km was needed to ensure viable populations of tigers and other wild animals (co-predators, prey and forest), thereby ensuring ecological viability of the entire habitat.
Wildlife wing officials admitted that Section 38V of the amended Wildlife Protection Act (WPA) 1972 stated that core area of the sanctuary could be a tiger reserve and hence the adjoining areas of both the PAs would be in tiger reserve's buffer.
Link - Expert against Nagzira curtailment - Times Of India (http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-07/nagpur/29391820_1_sq-km-tiger-reserve-umarzari)