Affidavit filed by the Chief Wildlife Warden, Assam in the matter of news item titled "the last feral horses in India" appearing in Mongabay, November 5, 2024. The matter relates to the critically endangered status of feral horses in the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park as well as of smuggling of these …
WITH problems mounting around the issue of conservation of national parks and sanctuaries, the present state of India's wildlife and protected areas (PA) is in Jeopardy. In most of the cases, the malady has been identified as the largely unscientific and anti-people approaches adopted in dealing with the management of …
While we can spend a lifetime debating on the issue of conflicts arising around national parks and sanctuaries (protected areas), our forests are still disappearing, the local people dependent on the forest resources are getting more and more marginalised, pressures on these areas are intensifying and ultimately, it is the …
THE proposed Rajaji National Park is hemmed in by the towns of Haridwar and Dehradun. These urban centres, beside being instrumental in the increasing demand for timber, are also encroaching into the national park area. Inside the park there is an army ammunition dump, the resettlement colony of the Tehri …
THE conservation agenda of India's wildlife establishment has always been held suspect by genuine environmentalists. The composition of the committee - mandated to "recommend ways and means to preserve and protect wildlife" - established in the last week of July by the Union ministry for environment and forests (MFF), can …
THE Himalayan national park in the Kulu district of Himachal Pradesh has been chosen for a Rs 6.5 crore World Bank-aided project to conserve its existing biodiversity. The park, which covers an area of more than 700 sq km, provides sanctuary to some 300 species of birds (including pheasants and …
A court ruling in the US in January 1995 cleared the way for an ambitious plan to reintroduce the gray wolf (Canis lupus) to parts of its former range. One of the 2 sites selected is the famous Yellowstone National Park, which was established in 1872 and is well known …
THE World Conservation Union (IUCN) is distressed about the way relief agencies like the Red Cross and Christian Action Research and Education are treating the Virunga National Park, Africa's oldest wildlife sanctuary. These agencies are aiding Rwandan refugees camping on the Zaire-Rwanda borders rubbing shoulders with the park. In a …
While the Indian tourism authorities continue to launch extravagant campaigns to attract visitors, the burden of the increasing numbers of wildlife tourists has goaded the Union ministry of environment and forests (MEF) into preparing guidelines to manage the tourist influx into the various national parks and sanctuaries. Of particular concern …
IN A CLASSIC tussle between conservation and tourist revenue, anthropologist Richard Leakey was compelled to resign as chairperson of the Kenyan Wildlife Service, following a campaign unleashed against him by William Ole Ntimama, the powerful Kenyan minister of local government. Ntimama said the local population in or near Kenya's national …
INDIA'S conservation laws have become the scourge of local communities in and around national parks and sanctuaries. The restrictions governing these protected areas curtail the indigenous peoples' access to natural resources to the extent their very survival becomes threatened. On the other hand, several cases have come to light of …
"What are we supposed to feel when a sarkari animal carries our children away? Are we still supposed to love the animal and the sarkar?" This plea by an activist working with poor people living in and around sanctuaries and national parks was countered by a conservationist who argued: "But …
Experts from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the Indian Veterinary Institute and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) have jointly proposed the establishment of "wildlife health centres" in India's national parks and sanctuaries. Five such centres are sought to be established …
A RISE in poaching has threatened one-horned rhinoceroses in the Royal Chitwan National Park and the Royal Bardiya Wildlife Reserve along the Indian border. International groups are increasingly using traps and poisons to gather the rhinoceros horn, which fetches $25,000 per kg, according to a Panos report. Tirtha Man Maskey, …
The ministry of environment and forests (MEF) has asked for an urgent clarification from its Nepalese counterpart on a Sino-Nepalese proposal to set up a natural reserve around the highest Himalayan peaks. China and Nepal have been working on the project for about 18 months and a US-based organisation, the …
AFTER two decades of Project Tiger, conservationists concede it is impossible to protect simultaneously tigers, trees and people"s livelihood. This was the major conclusion of an international seminar in New Delhi in February to assess the highly publicised project. Seminar participants identified the lack of local community involvement in protecting …
You have questioned the appropriateness of the system of national parks in developing countries. What are your objections? The idea of national parks came up in the West with the object of preserving the wilderness. Given the size and population of countries like the United States, it was feasible. But …
THERE can be no sharper indictment of the government's attempts to protect the environment than this: After 20 years of spending money and effort, Project Tiger is in shambles. Experts say the fate of tigers in India may be worse than when this much-flaunted conservation bid was launched. Some even …
ZIMBABWEAN authorities at the Gonarezhou National Park are going ahead with their plan to cull elephant and impala herds by as much as one-third to ensure the survival of other species, including people living in the area. Describing their plan as a "grim but essential" step, the authorities disclosed the …
STATE-SPONSORED conservation of natural resources in India has been in existence for many centuries and has been carried out in a variety of ways. Today, the generic term of "protected areas" includes various national parks, sanctuaries and game reserves, among other areas which the state considers worthy of conservation. Himraj …
