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The tiger deserves better

The announcement that a 13-member National Tiger Conservation Authority with the Union Minister for Environment and Forests as its head will be formed to protect India's national animal is a step forward, but only a feeble one given the nature and gravity of the crisis that threatens the future of the big cat. It is disappointing that the Government of India has scaled down its response after initially promising a conservation effort led by the Prime Minister. In its report submitted in August, the Tiger Task Force made a specific request for such stewardship. The country's natural spaces enjoyed the highest protection under Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi who took a special interest in the environment, and suffered big setbacks when such commitment was missing. The Conservation Authority (which will derive its powers from amendments to be made to the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972) has a mandate to guide a range of conservation activities in tiger reserves, national parks, and sanctuaries — in coordination with the States, which will have local steering committees headed by Chief Ministers. The panel will also have representatives who will ensure the welfare of the forest-dependent people, above all tribal folk. The effectiveness of the Authority will depend to a significant extent on its ability to resolve conflicts arising out of coalition politics and enlist the cooperation of tiger range States.

The Authority will face a tough challenge in lifting Project Tiger out of its failed bureaucratic framework. The Ministry of Environment and Forests, which glossed over Project Tiger's questionable performance, must be held responsible for the extinction of tigers in Sariska, one of the earliest reserves, and the rapid depletion in several others. The Ministry must be mandated to pursue sound conservation measures by enabling the appointment of tiger biologists with acknowledged credentials in peer-reviewed science as members of the Authority. Hack bureaucratic views must not be allowed to dominate the discourse in a situation where, by credible independent accounts, tigers have disappeared in thousands of square kilometres of forest, forming a third of Project Tiger areas. Urgent attention is required to secure the environmental hotspots where tigers are at high risk today from poaching, habitat loss, and pressure from incompatible human activity. These problems need strong responses such as armed anti-poaching policing in national parks and sanctuaries, well-conceived resettlement schemes for villages located in protected areas, and a more transparent approach to scientific scrutiny of Project Tiger. A more active role for State Governments in managing their natural spaces will go a long way in winning their participation. Where States give up access to natural resources within protected areas, a liberal compensation scheme may be more effective than political persuasion in winning support for the tiger.

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