Vishwa.Mohan@timesofindia.com
New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi on World Nature Conservation Day on Sunday pitched for people’s participation in protecting forests and wildlife and shared a few unique efforts of different states, including the ‘Kulhadi Band Panchayat’ campaign in Ranthambore in Rajasthan, to save green cover and tigers. India has 70% of the world’s tiger population.
As the world will celebrate International Tiger Day on Monday, Modi also shared a few examples of community-led efforts that are not only protecting big cats but also promoting eco-tourism.
Referring to the ‘Kulhadi Band Panchayat’ campaign in his monthly radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’, Modi said, “Local communities themselves have taken an oath that they will not go to the forest with axes and will not cut trees. Due to this one decision, the forests there are becoming green once again, and a better environment is being created for tigers.”
The PM also gave examples of Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra where local communities, especially Gond and Mana tribes, have reduced their dependence on the forest.
Similarly, he talked about efforts of the ‘Chenchu’ tribe living on the Nallamala hills in Andhra Pradesh where they as ‘tiger trackers’ are not only gathering every bit of information on the movement of wild animals in the forest but also keeping a close watch on illegal activities in the area.
The ‘Baagh Mitra Karyakram’ (tiger friends programme) of Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh also caught Modi’s attention. “Under this, local people are trained to work as ‘tiger friends’. These ‘tiger friends’ strictly ensure that there is no conflict between tigers and humans,” he said, underlining that community-driven efforts have been very useful in tiger conservation and led to an increase in the big cat population.
India has 54 tiger reserves, covering over 78,000 sq km which accounts for over 2.3% of the country’s geographical area.
On the occasion of 50 years of Project Tiger in April last year, Modi had launched a multi-agency coalition, International Big Cat Alliance, of 96 range countries for conservation of seven big cats — tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, puma, jaguar and cheetah. Except puma and jaguar, the other five are found in India.
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