Where are the people?
I begin by expressing grave concern about the fact that the government and the bureaucracy, especially the forest department, have been so secretive about introducing the Amendment Bill to the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. It is sad, indeed, that the government did not think it fit or essential to circulate the papers, even to concerned parties, before they were placed before parliament.
At a time when the issue of forests and wildlife is a globally sensitive one, our policymakers, lawmakers, and members of parliament and legislative assemblies display blissful ignorance about forest issues. The forest department, for its part, clings hopelessly to a colonial heritage: secretiveness and a hostile attitude towards forest dwellers.
The Amendment Bill does not distance itself from this attitude towards forest dwellers. I have been working with the tribal people of Bhimashankar in Pune district, Maharashtra, even before the area was declared a sanctuary in 1985. I have stayed and worked with them, and studied their lifestyle. They follow a low expenditure lifestyle, which enables them to conserve the ecosystem even as they use it as a sustenance support system.
There are, for example, a number of
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