The Project Tiger chief has asked states to stop tourism in reserves during the monsoon season, holding them guilty of not following a previous directive and a also a reminder in this regard. He has sought compliance reports from them.
Tiger reserves must be shut during the rains (July-September), but some have been found operating safaris. Project Tiger is a national programme for big cat conservation.
Project Tiger's Additional Director General, Anup Kumar Nayak, sent an advisory to all states on July 18. It has been reviewed by DNA. There are 50 tiger reserves in the country spread over an area of 71, 027 sqkm. There are 2,226 tigers in India's forests.
Nayak is also Member Secretary of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). He has cited NTCA's August 2015 recommendations that states must close tiger reserves during monsoon.
"This directive and a subsequent reminder on July 12, 2017 have not yielded any response from most states... I am to reiterate again that the 2015 directive should be followed in letter and spirit in the interest of tiger conservation," Nayak's letter reads.
NTCA's 2015 directive was issued keeping in view issues such as breeding of wildlife, growth of dense foliage and potential difficulties tourists would face.
NTCA had also reasoned that closing down parks to tourism during monsoon allows for undisturbed rejuvenation of forests.
Ranthambore National Park, which attracts lakhs of domestic as well as foreign visitors, operates wildlife safaris in its buffer areas during monsoon.
Park director YK Sahu said there was no tourism in the park's core areas. Last year, Rajasthan's wildlife department reversed its decision to open limited routes in core areas for tourism after NTCA raised objections.
Even in Maharashtra, buffer zones of tiger reserves are open for tourism, said AK Mishra, the state's chief wildlife warden. "As far as NTCA's 2015 advisory goes, only core areas are out of bounds during monsoon. Eventually, it is up to the park administration whether tourism should be allowed during monsoon," Mishra said.
Although the 2015 advisory did not make any distinction between core and buffer areas, Nayak said that a tiger reserve comprises both parts. "Ideally, there should be no tourism in either part because a tiger reserve covers both core and buffer," he said.
Ranthambore, Sariska, Jim Corbett, Kanha, Pench, Panna, Bandhavgarh, Tadoba-Andhari, Bhadra, Bandipur and Nagarhole are some of the most visited tiger reserves in the country.
DIRECTIVE TO STATES
Project Tiger chief Anup Kumar Nayak’s letter to states comes after a 2015 directive and a 2017 reminder failed to deter states. The idea is to ensure wildlife protection and rejuvenation
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