Supreme Court bans tourism in Core areas of Tiger Reserves:

Lets accept the reality that the way tourism is run in this country is not right. Tourism in its current form is having its negative impact on the wilderness areas and wildlife.

Please don't mistake the images of a few cubs jumping in cemented water holes as the success of conservation in general and tiger conservation in particular.

There are many conservationists-cum-hoteliers/tour operators-cum-photographers. Please don't take their quotes as the holy grail. Lets not feel that the entire tiger population plus other wildlife will be decimated if tourism is stopped.

Tourists can act as eyes and ears for protection of tigers to some extent. Not everywhere and everytime. To lay a snare a poacher doesn't need to enter the forest during the time the tourists are there. Local people staying in the villages within the vicinity or within the forests are employed to do these dirty job. Don't you find people inside ranthambhore, bandhavgarh and other tiger reserves during a drive?

What do you do? The driver or guide tells you that the people are there for pooja in one of those temples or to collect mahua etc. Did you stop to notice or search if that fellow is laying a snare or has a weapon hidden in the bush? How many of you even slow down to look? Perhaps the tiger is waiting in the next bend, so you better race your jeep. That is the attitude. So how on earth are you an effective patrolling unit?

The primary job of protection is that of forest department. Others can supplement at times with information. Don't mistake the tourists providing inputs being capable of having adequate knowledge. The forest department becomes too busy in managing the tourists and neglects their primary task which is protection.

The tourism lobby propagates the myth that because of tourism more tigers are present in the few national parks. Lets face it. Tourism is not a magnate to attract tiger and its prey to the tourism areas. Tigers are not attracted by the strong scent of various deodorants and other perfumes used by the tourists or by the garish clothes they wear to the forests.

Tourism follows wildlife ie. Whenever a place is known to have good concentration of wildlife, tourism zone is created.

Lets face it. If we have to save our wilderness areas and wildlife, then the first act is to make our forests inviolate and resettle all the villages that are at present inside the forests, give our wilderness areas strong protection, re-establish corridors between our forests. Tourism as a list of priorities is much lower.

I have been told by many people that they don't want to go to places where there are no AC rooms and cable TVs and swimming pools.

In Bandipur, Tusker Trails has got a small swimming pool. You can find lot of people, kids, women shouting and jumping into the small pool. They are having a good time. Others want to play cricket. For God's sake, don't demand these facilities to be created inside the core areas. You want to have these, then go to places outside the buffer areas.

Tourism helps in creating awareness. So we need to create an ecotourism policy that ensures tourism doesn't have high impact. We can't have thousands of people invading our core areas in the name of tourism. Lets stop the nonsense that happens in the name of tourism.

The Supreme Court ban exposes the sheer confusion in the ministry. Since they never took any action earlier, they are now unprepared to face it. There appears to be no clarity in thought.

I am told that tourism has been banned in all the wildlife sanctuaries in Tamil Nadu. Clearly, there is lot of confusion following the Supreme Court judgement on banning tourism in core areas of tiger reserves.

Why the MoEF could not create an eco-tourism policy despite our repeated submissions, analysis of good ecotourism practices of Botswana and other places etc. A draft eco-tourism policy was created and it had died after the minister was kicked up to cabinet rank in another ministry. Now, due to the supreme court case, they woke up and try to concoct something in the name of ecotourism policy. That is not how things ought to happen.

Creating a policy which ensures that vehicles can’t stop in a forest or have to moved like the Prime Ministers cavalcade with adequate distance between vehicles is just creating red tapism. Ensure that the number of vehicles and/or tourists entering the forest is restricted. Only when the number of vehicles entering the forest is more, this kind of idiotic guidelines like pacing of vehicles/adequate distance between each vehicle etc is required.

A distinction has to be created between the kind of people allowed to enter into the forests. Let all the pleasure seeking individuals remain on the outskirts/buffer.

I again repeat. Tourism in its present state in India has to stop. Let the Supreme court ban on tourism in core areas of tiger reserves act as a wake up call. We have to make a new begining. There has to be a paradigm shift in the tourism as practiced in India.

Sabyasachi