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Conclusions and Recommendations
Conclusions
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In the 25th year of India's Project Tiger, tigers are facing the worst ever crisis. Poaching for international trade, and exploitation of the forests is not only pushing the tiger towards extinction but is threatening the security of India's forests, water resources and the people who depend on them. About one tiger is lost in India every day.
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Although the tiger crisis has been acknowledged at the highest political levels in India, with consecutive Prime Ministers and the Minister of Environment and Forests reported to be pushing new important initiatives promising their support to tiger conservation, these words have not yet been turned into real action.
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The political institutions that govern the tiger, the forests and wildlife have failed to support field staff, leaving them demoralised and vulnerable.
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Madhya Pradesh, the self-declared Tiger State, is indicative of all the problems facing India's tigers, forests and people. The concept of the Tiger State has become nothing more than a public relations exercise in light of the broken promises made by the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.
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Madhya Pradesh has ignored national legislation intended to protect India's natural heritage, in favour of industrialists and political cronies offering a lucrative deal for the precious resources the forests offer - minerals, timber and water.
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Madhya Pradesh authorities have failed to act as Forest Department staff are beaten and sometimes killed by Mafia-style operatives, hungry for the gains of illegal wildlife and timber trade.
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The Madhya Pradesh government has moved key staff who have attempted to put wildlife conservation first. Conversely, unmotivated officers have been put in positions of wildlife management.
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Local people have been used as political pawns, often unjustly pitting wildlife conservation against local people.
Recommendations
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The Indian Prime Minister must support a new mechanism to transfer funds directly from the Central Ministry of Environment and Forests to Protected Area managers, so that their efforts are not impaired by State government red-tape or negligence.
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The Minister of Environment and Forests and the Minister of Home Affairs must ensure that enforcement authorities at State and Central government level co-ordinate efforts to conduct pro-active operations against illegal wildlife traders and to carry out effective follow-up investigations.
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Wildlife management should no longer be the responsibility of the same Department that allows the diversion of forest land for industry and commercial plantations. A separate administration for wildlife should be created and given the highest priority, to ensure the survival of forests for wildlife and people.
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The Congress (I) Party's President, Sonia Gandhi, must put pressure on the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh so that he lives up to promises made regarding tiger conservation including:
- to ensure that no land is diverted from a protected area for non-forest activities
- to keep good wildlife managers in protected areas
- to co-operate with Central government to fight the timber Mafia and wildlife poachers.
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Those nations that continue to consume tiger parts and derivatives must adhere to the decisions made by CITES and take immediate action to adopt and enforce adequate legislation to stamp out domestic and international trade in all products that contain or claim to contain tiger parts.
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The international community, in recognition of the severity of the tiger crisis, must provide financial, technical and political support to India and other tiger range states to ensure the success of new initiatives to save the tiger.
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