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Relocate villages to save tiger habitats - by Prerna Singh Bindra, The Pioneer, April 10, 2012
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Relocate villages to save tiger habitats
By Prerna Singh Bindra
Op-Ed
The Pioneer
http://www.dailypioneer.com
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
The Government has earmarked funds for relocation of
villages from tiger habitats. These funds are being
misused
JT Rajappa is a content man. He had a bumper crop last
year, yielding him a fair amount, from which he has put
aside a little, for his children's future. To Rajappa,
and others from the Shetthalli settlement that was
relocated from within the Nagarahole National Park, that
is the key difference between life then and now: Being
able to dream, to hope for a future. From landless
labour, depending on sporadic seasonal employment, they
now own land. And, he adds with a grin, "The wife watches
TV."
Rajappa is a beneficiary of the Voluntary Relocation
Programme from within critical tiger habitats, carried
out by Karnataka's forest department, and supported in
this case by a local NGO, Living Inspiration for Tribals.
The Prime Minister-appointed Tiger Task Force (set up
after the Sarsika debacle) prioritised the voluntary
relocation of villages from core critical tiger habitats,
recognising the fact that tigers need inviolate areas to
live and breed. Most of our tiger reserves have dense
human habitations. With people comes disturbance — over-
grazed, dead grasslands, lopped trees, garbage, putrid
waterholes, infusion of cattle, and more, thus rendering
the habitat inhospitable to tigers and fueling human-
wildlife conflict.
Villagers living in remote forests, in the heart of
reserves want a different life — that of mobile phones,
roads, employment opportunities — away from the fear of
elephants and trampled crops. Life outside in the
mainstream offers not just basic facilities like
healthcare and education, but also opportunities denied
in the forests that must remain pristine if we are to
safeguard our ecological security.
To facilitate the process, the Union Government enhanced
the relocation package. But, while this did give it
momentum, the funds made available with Project Tiger for
relocation have not kept pace with the need. Currently
there are over 45,000 families from 750-odd villages in
core critical tiger habitats across India that have been
identified for relocation.
Sources in the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests
confirm that there is a paucity of funds for relocation
of people living within core critical tiger habitats in
various States. The States have now stepped up relocation
following petitions from many gram sabhas requesting for
benefits of the enhanced relocation package.
But is there really a paucity of funds? Can State
Governments shirk away from this job, given that the
Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning
Authority money — which has enriched the State exchequer
by thousands of crores of rupees — have been earmarked
for the purpose of relocation, and wildlife protection?
To step back a little, in response to an affidavit filed
by the Ministry, the Supreme Court had in July 2009
ordered the release about Rs 11,000 crore, accumulated
since 2002 with CAMPA. Under the interim arrangement, the
Union Government was to disburse 10 per cent of the
accumulated principal amount on yearly basis to the
States.
The Environment and Forests Ministry gave explicit
guidelines for the utilisation of the money: It was to be
used for wildlife protection, staff empowerment,
restoration and regeneration of degraded forests and for
meeting financial needs of 'protected areas'. The funds
were not for compensatory afforestation and plantations,
a fact reiterated by the then Union Minister for
Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh in Parliament.
A decision was also taken to utilise the fund for the
voluntary relocation of people from protected areas and
core critical tiger habitats, given "that this had
assumed great significance for the conservation of
forests and wildlife". The decision was communicated to
the States. In a letter dated September 23, 2010, NTCA
reiterated the use of CAMPA funds for voluntary
relocation and rehabilitation of people from tiger
reserves.
But two years on, none of the States has utilised CAMPA
for the purpose of relocation, or for that matter even
for wildlife protection as mandated.
Reports are coming in from States that prime forests are
being destroyed to make way for CAMPA-funded plantations.
Odisha got a large chunk of the booty, to the tune of Rs
131 crore for 2009-2010. This largesse was used to clear
ground vegetation and forest undergrowth in various
reserve forests of the State to make way for monoculture
plantations with zero eco-system value, pointed out a
member of the National Board of Wildlife. Reports
indicate that in Andhra Pradesh, prime standing forest is
being converted into eucalyptus plantations.
A Pocketful of Forests, a book on compensatory
afforestation in India published by Kalpavriksh
Foundation, notes that most States planned to spend this
bonanza on the creation of infrastructure, such as
construction of offices, hostels and purchase of
vehicles, computers and laptops. Goa and Tamil Nadu put
aside 69 and 67 per cent for this purpose respectively,
while Sikkim and Himachal wanted to allocate about half
of their kitty to the same. Uttarakhand and Karnataka
planned for a large chunk for plantations, despite there
being an explicit order to the contrary.
CAMPA is blood money, the 'net value compensation' for
the destruction of natural forests for mines, industries,
power projects. It's a double whammy, with States causing
further damage by 'replacing' natural forests with
plantations or diverting the funds into construction and
gadgets.
This is a golden opportunity. We have the funds to make a
difference. It is scientifically established that
inviolate habitats are the key to sustain viable tiger
populations. Creating those inviolate areas is the most
significant contribution we can make to conserve wild
tigers.
At the same time, voluntary and fair relocation serves
the equally important purpose of welfare and advancement
of people. But for that, we must optimally and
strategically utilise CAMPA, and not treat it as an
opportunistic windfall for misuse.
(The writer is a member of National Board of Wildlife.)
More at:
http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/item/51411-relocate-villages-to-save-tiger-habitats.html
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
o o o
About the terrorist Goon Squad:
"Myself, Mallu. Yourself?" (V. Bhattathiri)
<KalluM...@gmail.com> tries his best to be a bully --
telling others what and when to post, where to post and
where not to post, deliberately publishing lies about
others, stalking and abusing them with hate speech -- but
fails miserably. He is really stressed out, and like his
lap dog Prem Thomas (who currently posts as "P. Rajah"
<us...@this.com>, and issues *death threats* to people),
is priming himself for conditions such as stroke and
heart disease. Others in the Goon Squad include
Dayashankar M. Joshi "DMJoshi" <jos...@gmail.com> who
displays unquestioning obedience to Goon Squad thugs, and
the instigator who posts as "Bholu" <bh...@hotmail.com>
The Goon Squad currently posts most of their abuse
through eternal-september.org and by writing someone
else's name or handle in the "From:" header -- their
favorite now is "fana...@gmail.com" (note the extra "b"
and "gmail.com") to make it appear as if the posts are
from "fan...@aol.com", who has been a regular poster for
many years. -Updated on February 2, 2012-
o o o
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used
for the educational purposes of research and open
discussion. The contents of this post may not have been
authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion
of the poster. The contents are protected by copyright
law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely
not be read, considered or answered if it does not
contain your full legal name, current e-mail and postal
addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views
expressed by others are not necessarily those of the
poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted
material the use of which may or may not have been
specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This
material is being made available in efforts to advance
the understanding of environmental, political, human
rights, economic, democratic, scientific, social, and
cultural, etc., issues. It is believed that this
constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the
material on this site is distributed without profit to
those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving
the included information for research, comment,
discussion and educational purposes by subscribing to
USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more
information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article
for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you
must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Since newsgroup posts are being removed by forgery by one
or more net terrorists, this post may be reposted several
times.
By Prerna Singh Bindra
Op-Ed
The Pioneer
http://www.dailypioneer.com
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
The Government has earmarked funds for relocation of
villages from tiger habitats. These funds are being
misused
JT Rajappa is a content man. He had a bumper crop last
year, yielding him a fair amount, from which he has put
aside a little, for his children's future. To Rajappa,
and others from the Shetthalli settlement that was
relocated from within the Nagarahole National Park, that
is the key difference between life then and now: Being
able to dream, to hope for a future. From landless
labour, depending on sporadic seasonal employment, they
now own land. And, he adds with a grin, "The wife watches
TV."
Rajappa is a beneficiary of the Voluntary Relocation
Programme from within critical tiger habitats, carried
out by Karnataka's forest department, and supported in
this case by a local NGO, Living Inspiration for Tribals.
The Prime Minister-appointed Tiger Task Force (set up
after the Sarsika debacle) prioritised the voluntary
relocation of villages from core critical tiger habitats,
recognising the fact that tigers need inviolate areas to
live and breed. Most of our tiger reserves have dense
human habitations. With people comes disturbance — over-
grazed, dead grasslands, lopped trees, garbage, putrid
waterholes, infusion of cattle, and more, thus rendering
the habitat inhospitable to tigers and fueling human-
wildlife conflict.
Villagers living in remote forests, in the heart of
reserves want a different life — that of mobile phones,
roads, employment opportunities — away from the fear of
elephants and trampled crops. Life outside in the
mainstream offers not just basic facilities like
healthcare and education, but also opportunities denied
in the forests that must remain pristine if we are to
safeguard our ecological security.
To facilitate the process, the Union Government enhanced
the relocation package. But, while this did give it
momentum, the funds made available with Project Tiger for
relocation have not kept pace with the need. Currently
there are over 45,000 families from 750-odd villages in
core critical tiger habitats across India that have been
identified for relocation.
Sources in the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests
confirm that there is a paucity of funds for relocation
of people living within core critical tiger habitats in
various States. The States have now stepped up relocation
following petitions from many gram sabhas requesting for
benefits of the enhanced relocation package.
But is there really a paucity of funds? Can State
Governments shirk away from this job, given that the
Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning
Authority money — which has enriched the State exchequer
by thousands of crores of rupees — have been earmarked
for the purpose of relocation, and wildlife protection?
To step back a little, in response to an affidavit filed
by the Ministry, the Supreme Court had in July 2009
ordered the release about Rs 11,000 crore, accumulated
since 2002 with CAMPA. Under the interim arrangement, the
Union Government was to disburse 10 per cent of the
accumulated principal amount on yearly basis to the
States.
The Environment and Forests Ministry gave explicit
guidelines for the utilisation of the money: It was to be
used for wildlife protection, staff empowerment,
restoration and regeneration of degraded forests and for
meeting financial needs of 'protected areas'. The funds
were not for compensatory afforestation and plantations,
a fact reiterated by the then Union Minister for
Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh in Parliament.
A decision was also taken to utilise the fund for the
voluntary relocation of people from protected areas and
core critical tiger habitats, given "that this had
assumed great significance for the conservation of
forests and wildlife". The decision was communicated to
the States. In a letter dated September 23, 2010, NTCA
reiterated the use of CAMPA funds for voluntary
relocation and rehabilitation of people from tiger
reserves.
But two years on, none of the States has utilised CAMPA
for the purpose of relocation, or for that matter even
for wildlife protection as mandated.
Reports are coming in from States that prime forests are
being destroyed to make way for CAMPA-funded plantations.
Odisha got a large chunk of the booty, to the tune of Rs
131 crore for 2009-2010. This largesse was used to clear
ground vegetation and forest undergrowth in various
reserve forests of the State to make way for monoculture
plantations with zero eco-system value, pointed out a
member of the National Board of Wildlife. Reports
indicate that in Andhra Pradesh, prime standing forest is
being converted into eucalyptus plantations.
A Pocketful of Forests, a book on compensatory
afforestation in India published by Kalpavriksh
Foundation, notes that most States planned to spend this
bonanza on the creation of infrastructure, such as
construction of offices, hostels and purchase of
vehicles, computers and laptops. Goa and Tamil Nadu put
aside 69 and 67 per cent for this purpose respectively,
while Sikkim and Himachal wanted to allocate about half
of their kitty to the same. Uttarakhand and Karnataka
planned for a large chunk for plantations, despite there
being an explicit order to the contrary.
CAMPA is blood money, the 'net value compensation' for
the destruction of natural forests for mines, industries,
power projects. It's a double whammy, with States causing
further damage by 'replacing' natural forests with
plantations or diverting the funds into construction and
gadgets.
This is a golden opportunity. We have the funds to make a
difference. It is scientifically established that
inviolate habitats are the key to sustain viable tiger
populations. Creating those inviolate areas is the most
significant contribution we can make to conserve wild
tigers.
At the same time, voluntary and fair relocation serves
the equally important purpose of welfare and advancement
of people. But for that, we must optimally and
strategically utilise CAMPA, and not treat it as an
opportunistic windfall for misuse.
(The writer is a member of National Board of Wildlife.)
More at:
http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/item/51411-relocate-villages-to-save-tiger-habitats.html
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
o o o
About the terrorist Goon Squad:
"Myself, Mallu. Yourself?" (V. Bhattathiri)
<KalluM...@gmail.com> tries his best to be a bully --
telling others what and when to post, where to post and
where not to post, deliberately publishing lies about
others, stalking and abusing them with hate speech -- but
fails miserably. He is really stressed out, and like his
lap dog Prem Thomas (who currently posts as "P. Rajah"
<us...@this.com>, and issues *death threats* to people),
is priming himself for conditions such as stroke and
heart disease. Others in the Goon Squad include
Dayashankar M. Joshi "DMJoshi" <jos...@gmail.com> who
displays unquestioning obedience to Goon Squad thugs, and
the instigator who posts as "Bholu" <bh...@hotmail.com>
The Goon Squad currently posts most of their abuse
through eternal-september.org and by writing someone
else's name or handle in the "From:" header -- their
favorite now is "fana...@gmail.com" (note the extra "b"
and "gmail.com") to make it appear as if the posts are
from "fan...@aol.com", who has been a regular poster for
many years. -Updated on February 2, 2012-
o o o
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used
for the educational purposes of research and open
discussion. The contents of this post may not have been
authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion
of the poster. The contents are protected by copyright
law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely
not be read, considered or answered if it does not
contain your full legal name, current e-mail and postal
addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views
expressed by others are not necessarily those of the
poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted
material the use of which may or may not have been
specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This
material is being made available in efforts to advance
the understanding of environmental, political, human
rights, economic, democratic, scientific, social, and
cultural, etc., issues. It is believed that this
constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the
material on this site is distributed without profit to
those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving
the included information for research, comment,
discussion and educational purposes by subscribing to
USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more
information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article
for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you
must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Since newsgroup posts are being removed by forgery by one
or more net terrorists, this post may be reposted several
times.
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