Pangolin Poachers held in Haliyal

In addition to the recent arrest of notorious Hakki Pikki Poachers in Haliyal by the forest department here on Monday Haliyal Police have arrested two persons while they were trying to smuggle the Pangolin skin weighing around 4 and half Kg and one more person has been arrested in this connection.

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Notorious Poachers held in Haliyal

It is once again proved that Dandeli and surrounding forests are not safe from the poachers since notorious Hakki Pikki poachers who are infamous for their connectivity with the international poachers' gangs have been arrested by the Haliyal Forest Division Officials and staff recently.The said poachers were living near city outskirts and department had kept an eye on them and have been finally caught when they were trying to sell the nails and other body parts of leopard,civet,jackal etc.Forest department have seized nails, hand bombs,traps,cages and other accessories used for the poaching.

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'Mhadei must be declared tiger reserve'

Goa should declare the Mhadei wildlife sanctuary as a tiger reserve during its golden jubilee year of liberation as it would be a matter of pride for the state, and also help protect its lifeline, the River Mhadei, noted conservationist Prerna Singh Bindra said on Friday.

"Goa has lots to offer in terms of biodiversity and other things, and the tiger's presence is a matter of pride rather than shying away from acknowledging it," the national board for wildlife member said.

Speaking in Candolim on tiger conservation and referring to the elusive big cats of Goa, she said it was sad that their presence here had been beset by a denial syndrome.

Further, Bindra said that Goa can be the 18th tiger state in the country and if it happens, it would also help save the Mhadei as the state's lifeline.

Jairam Ramesh, then Union minister of environment and forests, had written to former chief minister Digambar Kamat on June 28, 2011, urging the state government to submit a proposal to declare Mhadei as a tiger reserve.

Environmentalists realized that this suggestion had been prompted by the estimated presence of 35 tigers in Karnataka's tiger landscape, comprising the Bhimgad wildlife sanctuary and the Anshi-Dandeli tiger reserve.

But successive governments have shied away from complying with the Centre's request. "We are aware about the tiger's presence in Goa, but there is also a strong mining lobby here," a member of the audience quipped.

Bindra felt that everybody can contribute to the cause of tiger conservation in their own way. "The teachers can teach kids, NGOs can help in documentation, others can motivate the forest department officials," she said.

Terming project tiger, initiated in 1973, as a major conservation exercise, she said that it was a matter of pride that India has 1706 big cats and that is more than half of the world's population of big cats. "But 12% of its habitat is being lost every year," she said. Poaching, fragmentation of forest and its habitat, and dwindling of its prey base were some of the reasons for the decline in tiger population, she added.

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

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Mhadei-must-be-declared-tiger-reserve/articleshow/17069390.cms

Temples in sanctuaries may have to share revenue with Forest dept

The return of tiger tourism, following the October 16 Supreme Court order, has ushered in fresh regulations with regard to the management of religious places in tiger reserves across the Country.

Both sectors, which were earlier unregulated, are now expected to come under stringent government oversight.

Religious places such as the Biligiri Ranganatha temple in the BRT Wildlife Sanctuary, the Himavat Gopalaswamy temple in the Bandipur Tiger Reserve and several other temples, typically witness a large influx of devotees. Under the guidelines proposed by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), during the hearing of petition related to tiger tourism in the apex court, the temples will now be required to share a portion of their revenue with the Forest Department. 

In its guidelines, the Authority has suggested to all state governments to form a Local Advisory Committee for each tiger reserve to review the tourism strategy and make recommendations. The committee will also periodically review pilgrimage sites within tiger reserves in accordance with the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 to prevent any further expansion.  

Accordingly, all these transit camps and places of stay for pilgrims shall be restricted to specially designated days in a year. The protected area managers will now be required to work with temple authorities to develop a system for controlling the number of pilgrims so as to maintain the ecological integrity of the area within three years of the notification of these guidelines. “This includes those temples which require to stay open for certain period of time for a temporary period in an year, (mela)” explained Dipak Sarmah, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden. 

As per the guidelines, all rules related to tourism facilities - noise, building design, use of alternate energy and free passage for wildlife  - will apply to pilgrimage sites. Temple boards will be required to negotiate terms of revenue sharing with local communities and channel a minimum of 10 per cent of their gross revenue collected to the development of local communities through the Gram Sabha. 

The guidelines also suggest that tourist operators, drivers and temple-controlling authorities be educated on the importance of forest ecosystem, their ecological services and dos and don’ts during their visits to forests and tiger reserves. The guidelines shall be applicable to the tiger reserves but the State government shall lay down norms on similar lines for tourism in other protected areas. “Contravention of any provision of these guidelines or conditions laid therein by any person or organisation will be an offence under sub-section (2) of 38-O of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972,” the guidelines states.

New ruling

Karnataka State Forest Department officials, however, said that the new ruling would do little to generate revenue here as the State did not have major religious places capable of generating large revenue such as Kerala’s Sabarimala. “We have just small temples which do not generate revenue,” a forest official said. 

Wildlife enthusiasts, on the other hand, agreed that the regulations will do much good in curbing seasonal pilgrimages in tiger reserves such as Bandipur, Nagarahole and the Anshi Dandeli tiger reserve.

The Bandipur tiger reserve alone has ten temples including Himavat Goplaswamy temple in Gopalaswamy hills. The others are Tavarekatte Madappa in Bandipur range, Venugopalaswamy temple in Gopalaswamy Hills, Kanive Madappa in Gopalaswamy Hills, Marigudi in Maddur range, Ayanur Marigudi in Ayanur Marigudi, Beladakuppe Mahadeshwara in Hediyala Range, Alaganchi Marigudi in Moleyur Range, Basaveshwara temple in N Begur Range, Durga temple in Gundre Range and Devara Madu Madeshwara in Kundukere Range.

In Anshi Dandeli, visitors pass through the reserve to reach the Ulavi Chennabasaveshwara Shrine — the holy place of Veerashaivas. The Kavala caves within the park draws crowds during Mahashivarathri, while tribals around Nagarhole visit a temple Aiyangudi during a particular time.

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

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/288288/temples-sanctuaries-may-have-share.html

Pangolin Poachers held in Joyda

Poachers who were trying to sell the Pangolin's skin have been arrested by the Joyda Police near Bapeli Cross on Sunday.Officials have seized the skin of approx.610 Grams along with an Indica Car and a weighing machine.The case has been registered in Joyda Police Station.

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Goa pitches for heritage list berth with rare bats in forests

Making its representation to get Goa region of Western Ghats included as world heritage site by UNESCO, the state forest department has said that its forests are the only home on earth for rare species of bat — The Giant Indian Mastiff.

The forest department, in its draft letter prepared last week, to be submitted to UNESCO, has said rare ‘Wroughton’s free-tailed bat’ (The Giant Indian Mastiff) has been recorded in this contiguous region, which is already declared protected.

The only known roosting site of this bat on this planet falls just outside the boundary of the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary, the department has said.

Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest Richard D’Souza, who drafted the letter, has said “till date, the range of this bat is not known and it is almost certain that it falls inside the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary.”

In July 2012, the Western Ghats along with 39 serial sites spread across Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala got inscribed as world heritage sites by UNESCO.

However, the Western Ghats falling in Goa were not included in the UNESCO’s list.

The state forest department has said although Goa is the smallest State through which the Western Ghats pass, its forests are vital to maintain the contiguity of the northern and southern stretches of the Ghats.

The letter, which will be discussed with Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar before being sent to UNESCO, has also sought declaration of Goa forests as ‘tiger habitat’, D’Souza said.

The presence of tigers in recent years indicates that these protected and contiguous forests of Maharashtra and Karnataka are one of the best potential tiger habitats in the Western Ghats, D’Souza said in the letter.

Besides, the Anshi-Dandeli Tiger Reserve in Karnataka is also contiguous to the Western Ghats of Goa.

The Department has said “although the elevation of most of the peaks of Goa’s stretch of Western Ghats are barely 800-1,000 kms above mean sea level, the species diversity and density in core areas is relatively high”.

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

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/states/article3945160.ece

Goa should be part of Tiger Reserve complex: Wildlife Institute of India

The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has suggested inclusion of Goa as a part of the Tiger Reserve complex complimenting the sanctuaries in Maharashtra and Karnataka, which would help the coastal state in conserving wild cats.

The Dehradun-based Institute, which submitted its report on the status of wildlife in Goa to the state forest department has established that tiger occupancy in Goa is about 322 square kilometres.

Goa can be potentially be home to a small breeding population of tigers which would be sustained by immigrants from Anshi-Dandeli wildlife sanctuary (in Karnataka) as well as Sahyadri wildlife sanctuary (in Maharashtra).

The census conducted in 2010, and results of which were formally sent to Goa forest department few days back, notes that tiger presence is recorded in Mollem wildlife sanctuary and in forests of Ponda and Sanguem area.

Goa has five wildlife sanctuaries and a national park. The report states that Goa forms part of the corridor connecting Anshi-Dandeli in Karnataka and Sahyadri tiger reserve in Maharashtra.

"It would therefore benefit from being incorporated as part of tiger reserve complex," the WIIsaid.

State forest department officials said the proposal to declare Goa's forest areas as tiger reserve has been under consideration but final thought is not given to it.

"There are so many intricacies attached to it once the Tiger Reserve is announced. We have several human settlements in wildlife sanctuaries. But the process to relocate them is far from over," a senior forest department official said.

Environmentalists, however, claim that the state government's reluctance to declare wildlife sanctuaries especially Mhadei as a tiger reserve, is aimed at saving Goa's multi-crore iron ore mining industry.

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

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-09-11/flora-fauna/33761813_1_anshi-dandeli-tiger-reserve-mhadei