Karnataka   

Tribal people oppose formation of Critical Wildlife Habitats

MYSORE: The Tribal Joint Action Committee, H D Kote, and Nagarahole Budakattu Hakkupalane Samithi (Nagarahole Tribals Rights Implementation Committee), Mysore and Kodagu districts, have urged the Centre to take measures to protect tribal people’s rights by suitably implementing Tribal Forest Rights’ Act without segregating the forest areas as Critical Wildlife Habitats (CWHs), national parks and sanctuaries.

“The forest and wildlife should be managed and protected with the traditional wisdom of tribal people’s communities,” said the organisations.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, copies of which were released to the press here, the organisations maintained that the Ministry of Forests and Environment had not consulted or involved tribal people while taking a decision on the formation of CWHs under the Forest Rights Act.

While thanking the Centre for its decision to implement the Act with effect from January 1, 2008, the organisations said they had requested an amendment to the Act to respect forest rights fully, by involving traditional “gramsabhas” of adivasi communities. It is not known whether it has been done.

However, the organisations said they were against the decision to declare critical tiger and wildlife habitats by amending the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 which, according to them, takes away the rights of tribal people over their habitats.

In Karnataka, all the important forests had been declared as national parks and sanctuaries since 1972.

“This declaration made tribal people homeless. We had hopes that this injustice would be set right in the Forest Rights Act,” said the letter. “But the government, without following the guidelines, decided to notify CWHs without consulting and involving local communities. We are not against wildlife protection – be it tiger, elephant or any other wildlife…. We have been living harmoniously with them for centuries. The destruction of wildlife is not by tribal people, which has to be understood by the administrators,” they said in the letter. “If forest rights are taken away in the name of CWHs, by ignoring the guidelines in the Forest Rights Act, it is certainly a betrayal of the tribal people by the government.

Therefore, the rights of tribal people living in national parks, sanctuaries and reserve forests should be protected by implementing Forest Rights Act effectively without segregating the forests,” they demanded.

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