Supreme Court orders complete ban on tiger tourism across the country

The Supreme Court has ordered complete ban on any form of tourism that’s organised in the name of tigers in the core areas of their sanctuaries and directed the state governments where the sanctuaries house the big cats to put in place a notification setting up buffer zones.

“Tigers are practically on the verge of extinction whatever the statistics may be,” the top court observed on Tuesday while hearing a PIL filed by environmentalist Ajay Dubey.

The PIL has sought directions to the Centre and statesto protect tigers from poachers and to ensure necessary care to them.

The ban will remain in force until the court finally disposes of the PIL.

Tiger breeding takes place in core areas which are meant to be kept free of any disturbance, including tourism. Buffer zones are the areas which lie in the periphery of core areas also known as critical tiger habitats. The buffer zones constitute the fringe areas of tiger reserves up to a distance of 10 kms.

A bench of Justices Swatanter Kumar and Ibrahim Kalifulla also imposed a fine of Rs10,000 on the governments of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu,Bihar, and Andhra Pradesh for ignoring its repeated directives concerning buffer zones.

Karnataka is the lone government that has notified setting up buffer zones around its tiger sanctuaries.

Expressing concern over the authorities’ inertia in sincerely implementing the Wild Life Act and the Article 21 of the constitution that guarantees protection to environment, the court also warned that contempt action would be initiated against the offending states.

It also said exemplary cost up to Rs 50,000 would be imposed on each state and this amount would be recovered from the chief secretary concerned.

Union environment and forests minister Jayanthi Nataraj has welcomed the ban order and said she would personally write to all chief ministers asking them to strictly follow the top court’s mandate.

She also expressed concern over increased tourism activities in core areas in tiger reserves.

There have been reports about wildlife and cultural holidays that are called tiger tracking safaris in Kanha, Bandhavgarh or Pench National Parks and Asiatic Lion safaris and vacations in Sasan Gir National Park.

According to reports quoting the National Tiger Conservation Authority, about 48 tigers have died in the first six months of 2012 compared to 56 tiger deaths reported in the whole of 2010 and 52 in 2011.

An edited version of this article can be read from the link below:

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_supreme-court-orders-complete-ban-on-tiger-tourism_1719277

For more detailed story please follow the links below:

http://www.iol.co.za/travel/travel-news/tiger-reserves-off-limits-to-tourists-1.1349929#.UBF6R2EqmHg

http://www.theage.com.au/travel/travel-news/court-suspends-tourism-in-tiger-reserves-20120726-22svk.html

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/25/world/asia/india-tiger-tourism/index.html

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=10822349

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/karnataka/article3683454.ece?homepage=true

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48302493/ns/us_news-environment/#.UBF672EqmHg

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-07-25/flora-fauna/32847286_1_tiger-reserves-project-tiger-b-j-hosmath

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/supreme-court-to-the-rescue-of-tiger-reserves/1/210167.html

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/266874/curtains-safaris-state-reserves.html

http://www.eturbonews.com/30337/indian-court-bans-all-tourist-activities-tiger-reserves

Villager attacked by sloth bear near Diggi

Mahadev Mirashi from Dhoodmala village near Diggi has been fatally attacked by a sloth bear when he was returning home from Karanjoda.It was said that the sloth bear was with its cubs and suddenly attacked in order to save its cubs and as a result the said victim suffered severe injuries on his head, hands, legs.

It is important to note that the Dhoodmala is a remote village situated 40 Km from the Taluka Place Joyda and people need to cross Kali River several times to reach the town.Since the incident happened in the monsoon the flow of water was on rise and even the ambulance got damaged before it could arrived to the spot.So with great difficulty the victim was taken to Joyda and was given first treatment and then taken to SDM Hospital,Dharwad for further treatment.

Please find the attachment below for more details:

Tourist found dead in Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve

A group of tourists from Dharwad who were on a picnic to Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve became witnesses for a tragedy on last Sunday.

Chandregowda who was working in a Dharwad based private company had come for a picnic with his colleagues/friends to Syntheri Rocks which is situated in Phansoli Wildlife Range of Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve and was found missing near Kaneri river bridge since Sunday afternoon and search for the body was in progress till Monday since heavy  rain tampered the operation.But however it has been said that by Monday evening police department personnel with the help of Forest department staff and local people could able to recover the body.

It is said that all these people were consumed alcohol and were celebrating a party near hanging bridge where the entry is strictly prohibited.And suddenly Chandregowda was missing by that time, probably might have been drowned in the deep water.
For more information please find the attachment below:

Tragedic Ends here are not new:

It is important to notice that six months before at the same place one more person was found dead.And even Syntheri Rocks is also not safe which has witnessed many deaths in this area.

Lesson for all who enter forests and other Protected Areas:

Whoever is entering the forests or protected areas such as Tiger Reserves,Wildlife Sanctuaries,National Parks should take a prior permission from the concerned department and should also accompany a guide who knows the area well.And neglecting such things has resulted in a Trekker's death who had trespassed the Bannerghatta National Park and trampled to death by an elephant on the same day.

Hence I would like to suggest some of the points for the trekkers.

1.Forests are home to wild animals so you are in their territory and we can never expect a mercy from them so anything can happen if you encounter them face to face.

2.Do not enter Restricted areas in the forests without prior permission from the concerned department and never forget to be accompanied by the guide who knows the area very well.And never be in such an assumption that you are totally safe if you have Google maps or GPS locations.

3.Wear the proper camouflage in the forests.

4.Never apply deodorants or some other body sprays which may attract elephants and some other animals which can smell from very far places.

5.Take the treks on designated paths.

6.Never try to swim in the lakes,streams,rivers which are unknown since there may be whirlpools or even may be infested with the crocodiles.

7.Never litter or play a music.

8.Always follow your trek team and make sure that you are not left behind since there are chances of losing the routes.

9.If you loose the paths never try to find some other paths instead stay in the same place from where you left behind so that your team members can track you easily.

10.Maintain a safe distance from the wild animals because just for a good photo shot you may even loose your life.
Important Note:
Tiger Reserves,Wildlife Sanctuaries,National Parks are not picnic spots as many people think.These places are meant for wild animals and not for humans.There is no wrong in visiting them since everyone should be aware of wildlife and their conservation but trespassing into the forests,littering,playing music and other such activities are punishable under Wildlife Protection Act.So please think and act properly before you visit any forests or protected areas in the future.

Black panthers are not that uncommon-Dandeli forests Heaven for Black Panthers

The long-term camera trap surveys being conducted by the forest department and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is beginning to show results as the cameras have captured more than 100 black leopards in the dense forest of the Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve in the past three years.

These surveys are part of the long-term camera trap studies of tigers and leopards being conducted in the Malnad-Mysore Tiger Landscape of Karnataka for over two decades by the Centre for Wildlife studies, with support from the Wildlife Conservation Society. This project has generated several interesting captures of black leopards in this landscape, including some in drier forests.

During the current year of intensive tiger monitoring under phase IV of National Tiger Estimation in Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve, the project led by Ullas Karanth of WCS threw up a unique photo capture of a family of leopards that had two spotted and one melanistic member. These photo were taken at Satkhand-Kalamkhand Road in May 2012 by a team working under the guidance of Samba Kumar, joint director-conservation science, WCS, according to Karanth. At Bandipura, a black leopard was spotted in April 2008 along Chippana Halla Road and another on Danadari Camp Road in February 2010.

For more information on this please follow the link below:

http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_black-panthers-are-not-that-uncommon_1713007
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/article3625739.ece

Tourism in Forests of Western Ghats - A case study in Dandeli

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forest formed the 14-member Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP)1, to recommend measures and assist the government in the preservation, conservation and rejuvenation of the environmentally sensitive and ecologically significant regions of the Western Ghats. The panel's mandate is to assess the ecological status of the Western Ghats region, demarcate areas within to be notified as ecologically sensitive zones under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, and recommend modalities for the establishment of the Western Ghats Ecology Authority under the Act. EQUATIONS was invited by the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) to submit a paper on “Tourism in the forest areas of Western Ghats” and join the consultative process started by the WGEEP.

Commissioned by the Western Ghats Expert Ecology Panel (WGEEP) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India , this paper attempts a rapid assessment of the impact of tourism growth in the Western Ghats. The paper is based on substantive secondary research , by EQUATIONS as well as other academicians and organizations. It also has a set of case studies demonstrative how unregulated tourism has led to significant environmental, social and cultural damage in the ecologically fragile Western Ghats region – one of the 34 biodiversity hotspots of the world.  The three main sections of the paper are one on the trends in tourism development, the legal and policy regime that is flouted more than followed, and case studies. This is followed by a series of recommendations for sustainable tourism in the region.

About EQUATIONS:

Equitable Tourism Options (EQUATIONS) is a research, campaign and advocacy organization. They study the social, cultural, economic and environmental impact of tourism on local Communities. They believe that tourism should be non-exploitative, equitable and sustainable. A question that has been central to their work and directs much of it is 'Who Really Benefits from Tourism?'.

EQUATIONS did case studies of several places in the western ghats including Dandeli also and submitted its report in January 2011.These are some of the facts of tourism and its Pros, Cons in and around Dandeli forests.

Dandeli

Dandeli is a town in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka in the Western Ghats, near to Goa. Dandeli is located 117 km from Karwar, 75 km from Hubli, 98 km from Sirsi, and 481 km from Bengaluru. Dandeli is promoted as a tourist spot for nature lovers. It is well known for the Tiger Reserve, paper mills, dams and tourism. A significant part of Dandeli's population consists of economic migrants from all over India. The Kali river which is the main water source, is also one of the most popular white-water rafting destinations in South India.

Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve

The Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary along with the Anshi National Park was declared as the Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve. Recently, it has also been notified as a Hornbill Reserve. Both Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary and its adjacent Anshi National Park house huge tracts of moist-deciduous and evergreen forests. Although a known habitat of the rare black panther, the large size and the density of the forest make spotting them very difficult. The forests of Dandeli and Anshi are home to over 200 species of birds and many large mammal species. The main tourist attractions apart from the safari and white-water rafting are the Kavala Caves, Syntheri Rock, Molangi, Sykes point and the Supa Dam. The reserve has a population of more than 20,000 people living within and on the periphery of its boundaries. There are pockets of revenue land within the reserve boundaries, where agriculture is practiced. The number of revenue settlements is 54. A Tiger Conservation Foundation has been set up in order to facilitate and support the management of the tiger reserve for conservation of tiger and biodiversity and, to take initiatives in eco-development by involvement of people. Tourism in the reserve has increased rapidly over the past 5 years. People visiting the Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve alone has increased from 6000 in 2001 to more than 25,000 presently.69 This has also led to increased tourism revenues and the Tiger Conservation Foundation has funds of Rs.22 lakhs allotted for the 24 villages in the reserve. Each of the 24 villages has an Eco Development Committee (EDC) constituted of the local communities. These EDCs are engaged in tourism and forest management activities. The EDC at Syntheri Rocks has been particularly effective in managing the destination and utilizing the tourism revenue.70 However, many of the EDCs have not been functional and some locals allege that some of the office-bearers of the EDCs are influential people who are not bringing any benefits to the local communities.71 The DFO agrees that there are problems, and he is slowly trying to reform the situation and make the EDCs more effective.

Figure : Tourists Visitation data: Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve – 2001-2007

Source: http://www.dandeliwildlife.org/tourism.htm

The Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve has two tourism zones - Kulgi and Anshi camps. At the Kulgi camp, safaris are conducted in the mornings and evenings. Private Jeep taxis and private vehicles are allowed in the safari. The reserve does not own vehicles of its own for conducting the safari. Though, there are rules that the visitors should not disembark during the safari, it is openly flouted by the tourists and the guides. The Forest Department has tried to educate the tourists about this through their website, by asking the tourists to focus on the rich biodiversity of bird species, reptiles, amphibians, insects and trees. But this has not translated on the ground. Spreading the message to the tourists and the tourist establishments in the area has been challenging. The tourists can be regularly heard complaining about how they were not able to sight anything substantial. The manager of the Bison Resort, one of the many popular resorts in the region, when asked about the problems in the Reserve, cited that the “sightings are very poor, and the forest department should take necessary steps so that the situation is improved”, without understanding and appreciating the nature of the forest.

The Tourism Boom and the after-effects

Over the past few years, owing to the increased tourism activity, many resorts and homestays have sprung up around the Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary. Many of these establishments are cheek by jowl by the boundaries of the reserve. It was observed that some of the resorts situated in the forest were using noisy and polluting diesel generators for electricity backup. There have also been complaints about night safaris being conducted, where the tourists start either much ahead of the scheduled time at 5.30 a.m or continue late into the night, for a better chance of “sighting”.

Photo : Profusion of resorts jostling for advertising space near Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve

Some of the local people have come together and formed an association of homestays with a common set of guidelines focusing on eco-homestays. They have named it the Kali Parisara Pravasam Samasthana (Kali Eco-Tourism Organization). The homestays are situated at a farm house without the guests staying with the family or home. The basic idea behind this separation is to minimize the exposure of their families to tourists. Local youth have been employed as cooks cum house-keepers of the homestay. Kadumane, a homestay situated around 4 kms away from the Kulgi Nature Camp is run by Mr. Narasimha Chapkhand. He is one of the main persons behind the Kali Eco-Tourism Organisation. He is a farmer by occupation and also conducts street plays and awareness programs on environmental issues. Kadumane was started 2 years ago, with a strict focus on ecotourism. Narasimha accommodates his guests in a small farm-house which is surrounded by his own farm and plantations. He uses most of whatever he produces to prepare food for the guests. He also does bee-keeping and grows many fruit trees to attract the birds and mammals like the Malabar Giant Squirrel. He uses whatever solid and liquid waste generated as manure for his farm. He takes his guests on bird-watching walks, boating (on a raft made by him), treks and wildlife spotting.

Initially, when it started out, Kadumane had a strict no-alcohol policy. But Narasimha says that a very large majority of the tourists who come to Dandeli want to indulge in alcohol and he had to grudgingly tweak his policy and allow consumption to become financially viable. He noted that alcohol consumption and illegal activities like drug abuse were on the rise in the local communities and tourists. This view was vouched for by another local, who’s a jeep owner and driver. He also went on to say that there were stray cases of prostitution.

The DFO noted that tourists’ were being cheated by some of the tourist establishments and drivers. The DFO of Dandeli, Sunil Panwar, has taken a few initiatives to involve the local communities through EDCs and VFCs, and a mechanism to share the revenues generated by tourism with the communities through the Tiger Conservation Foundation. There are plans in place to test this model at the Kulgi Nature Camp. Also, the example set at Syntheri Rocks is planned to be emulated at other tourist destinations in the reserve. It is to be seen whether these plans will be implemented. But the larger issue of unregulated tourism continues unabated.

The Uttara Kannada district, one of the most forested districts in South India, is slowly waking up to both the benefits and negatives of tourism. Tourism around Sirsi has still not developed to the stage of being unmanageable like many other destinations, and it is the right time for policy makers and stakeholders to step in before it is too late.


For more information on this please log onto http://equitabletourism.org/readfull.php?AID=1246

Sambar kill by Wild-dogs in Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve

Rare moment in DATR

Is Khanapur forest a better option for elephants than Dandeli,Haliyal forests?

People reading this article will really wonder that how the fragmentation of interconnected forests can pose a threat to the large mammals to select some other forests even than the protected areas.But actually it is a truth and this is not a story of some other forests.It is the story of  Asian elephants which are fast disappearing from North Canara forests and finding their ways in Khanapur forests of Belgaum district.As we all know 80% of the North Canara district is covered with forests but I can strongly say it is just a truth in textbook and not in reality.Huge settlements,resorts, home stays,hydro electric projects,dams,roads deep inside the forests have shrinked the wildlife habitat which is a big threat.And a good example for this is,the elephants which were once used to migrate between Malnad plateau and North Canara district have now lost their migratory paths due to huge fragmentation forcing them to find new places for their survival.

So I want to bring out some of the facts and statistics by which one can easily understand why the  elephants which were once easily sighted in Dandeli-Haliyal-Yellapur forests are heading towards Khanapur forests.

North Canara Landscape

Elephant habitats:The forest divisions of Haliyal, Dandeli, Sirsi, Yellapur and Karwar constitute the elephant habitats in the northern hill tracts of Karnataka. The hills are low,but farm rather in wide belt with precipitation ranging from 6500 mm at the crest to about 1000 mm on the plateau and the vegetation ranges from evergreen to dry thorn types (Prasad et al. 1974). The natural habitats in this region are fragmented by expanding human population, heavy exploitation of forest for timber and soft wood,mining (iron and manganese) and hydroelectric projects (Prasad et al. 1974, Sukumar1989). The state of Maharashtra and Goa including the forest division of Belgaum were not part of the traditional elephant ranges. However, an elephant herd from the Haliyal–Dandeli Forest division made a short foray into Belgaum Forest division in 2001.Subsequently, between 2002 and 2004, the herd further extending its range northward visited the southern parts of Sindhudurg district in Maharashtra causing damage to crop and properties. Since 2005, the herd is staying back in Maharashtra, around the forested area of Sindhudurg and Kolhapur districts and is in conflict with people with part of the herd occasionally wandering further westward into Goa state. A few elephants were captured by Maharashtra and the rest continue to range in and around Tillari Reservoir in Maharashtra in considerable conflict with the people of this region. It is likely that their traditional range in the north Canara is subjected to intensive biotic pressure or fragmentation, being unable to sustain within or part of their traditional home, the elephants moved further northward into Belguam and Maharashtra in search of new area to settle down, as reported elsewhere in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu (Danielet l. 1995, Baskaran 1998). Although the natural habitats in north Canara have tenuous link with Malnad plateau on its southern side, elephant movements do not take place anymore, probably due to higher disturbance from Bangalore–Shimoga highway and villages around the Shimoga Forest division.

Vegetation land use: Evergreen forests dominates (26% or 6055 km2) the natural vegetation in the landscape (Fig. 2), followed by almost equal (11%) spread of tropical deciduous (2700 km2) and dry-thorn forests (2525 km2). However, at the landscape level, two thirds of the land cover is occupied by human settlement/cultivation (33% or 7800km2) (Table 2). In addition, the landscape also has commercial plantations like coffee(Coffea arabica) and tea (Camellia sinensis) over 2500 km2 (11%) indicating the level of habitat fragmentation.

Elephant population: In this region, the elephants are scattered at low density. In 2002,synchronized census estimated 58 elephants (Elephant Census 2002). However, in 2005 the number declined to 34 (Table 3. Elephant Census 2005), possibly due to the straying of an elephant herd from Belgaum division to Maharashtra. Dandeli Tiger Reserve is an important elephant habitat in this region supporting the bulk of the population consistently during 2002–07.

Conservation issue: Fragmentation of habitat by (a) expanding human population, (b) extensive exploitation of forest for timber and soft wood in the past, (c) mining (iron and manganese), and (d) Kalinadi hydroelectric project could be the reasons for the straying of elephants from Haliyal Forest division into Belgaum to Maharshtra. The Dandeli Tiger Reserve alone supports bulk of the elephants of this region. However, no detailed data are available for the elephants in North-Canara including new habitats in Maharashtra and Goa. A more objective study is needed to evaluate the habitat conditions, its corridors, population structure and viability including present scenario of human–elephant conflict to make firm conservation recommendation for this population.

And also some of the statistics below tells us the disappearance of elephants from North Canara forests in a decade during a survey conducted by Karnataka Forest Department and Asian Nature Conservation, a NGO which focusses towards wildlife research and conservation in Southern India.

Better Bamboo availability in Khanapur Region:

And one major reason for the migration is the availability of Bamboo which is the major source of food for elephants.Khanapur region has got some of the best bamboo forests especially in Nagargali,Golihalli range.

Elephant Census 2002:

As per the Elephant population estimated using block count method for various divisions in Karnataka during 2002 synchronized elephant census, Belgaum division had the sighting of 10 elephants against the Dandeli Wildlife Division,Karwar,Haliyal,Yellapur divisions which had 3,3,NIL,NIL sightings respectively.

Elephant Census 2005:

Dandeli 

Block Count: No elephant was sighted in the sample block but 5 elephants were found outside the census blocks.  

Dung count: The Dung count raw data was received and analysis was carried out. 

Belgaum 

Block Count: Only two elephants were sighted in the 84 sample blocks. No analysis was done due to lack of block size data. 

Dung Count: In Belgaum of the 54 km of transects walked 49 dung piles were seen. 

Elephant Census 2010:

No data has been collected in this region.

So from all the data provided above, it is clear that fragmentation is the main reason for migration of elephants from Dandeli and surrounding areas to Khanapur forests.We all know that Dandeli will soon have the significance of Elephant Reserve and I am sure once again Dandeli forests will flourish with the Jumbos if it is implemented.

Source:

1.The State of Asian Elephants in the Western Ghats, Southern India, and Its Implications to Promote Conservation of the Ecology of Western Ghats

N. Baskaran (with technical assistance of R. Sukumar)

2.KARNATAKA ELEPHANT CENSUS 2010,Technical Report to The Karnataka Forest Department

3.SOUTHERN INDIA ELEPHANT CENSUS 2005,SUMMARY REPORT TO KARNATAKA FOREST DEPARTMENT

4.KARNATAKA ELEPHANT CENSUS 2010,Summary Report to The Karnataka Forest Department