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PROTECTED AREA UPDATE News and Information from protected areas in India and South Asia Vol. XIV No. 3 June 2008 (No. 73) LIST OF CONTENTS Maharashtra 9 EDITORIAL 2 Protected Area status proposed for Sewree-Mahul An enduring vibrancy Wetlands Illicit liquor dens in Sanjay Gandhi NP may be NEWS FROM INDIAN STATES responsible for leopard deaths Andhra Pradesh 3 SC allows eviction from Sanjay Gandhi NP Meeting on wildlife training in Tirupati Bhorkada (Bhorgad) Conservation Reserve in Assam 3 Nashik District Radio link between forest and railway officials to Proposal for Muniya Conservation Reserve 15 kms protect elephants from Nagpur Wildlife sanctuary proposed near Jatinga Villagers inside Tadoba Andhari threaten mass Seven hectares of Amchang WLS for NH 37 suicide if forced to relocate under East West Corridor Project Meghalaya 11 Pygmy hogs to be released in Sonai Rupai WLS Nokrek BR nominated for UNESCO Biosphere Tourism festival at Chakrashila WLS Reserve program CBI to probe rhino poaching cases in Assam Orissa 11 Gujarat 5 Demand for new tiger reserve, six new wildlife Gir Wildlife Sanctuary to be expanded sanctuaries Wildlife Crime Cell begins work Two elephants electrocuted near Badrama WLS Rs. 830 crore proposal for ‘development’ Steps to increase forest protection of forests Water shortage threatens elephants, other wildlife Jammu & Kashmir 6 Increased salinity threatens Bhitarkanika mangroves CRPF personnel given wildlife related training in Villagers around Bhitarkanika NP allegedly Dachigam NP harassed Jharkhand 6 Crocodile attacks in and around Bhitarkanika NP Local women, ex-servicemen for protection of Ferry ghats in Bhitarkanika sealed to prevent Betla NP poaching, intrusion Kerala 6 Rajasthan 14 Suspected viral infection kills wild elephants in Water, fodder scarcity in Tal Chappar WLS Waynad forests Tamil Nadu 15 State wetlands to be mapped Artificial salt licks for de-worming wildlife in Air Deccan and Kerala FD to promote Periyar TR Coimbatore Division Lakshadweep 7 Coral diseases to be investigated in the Gulf of Marine Conservation Reserve in Agatti Mannar BR Madhya Pradesh 7 Uttarakhand 15 Gaur to be translocated from Kanha NP to the Bamboo cover being increased to reduce human- Bandavgarh NP elephant conflict in Shivaliks Tourism development plans in Madhya Pradesh Now, weekly off for domestic elephants in Corbett Kanha guides threaten to strike work Fires affect Corbett TR, Rajaji NP Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) Van Gujjars allowed passage to Govind Pashu Vihar National Park EDITORIAL Delhi Dehradun highway through Rajaji NP to have six lanes Peacock deaths in close vicinity of Rajaji NP West Bengal 17 An enduring vibrancy Restrictions on tourism establishments around forests, PAs That wildlife conservation and protection is low down in the list of priorities for the country in NATIONAL NEWS FROM INDIA 18 general and the political class in particular is a Privilege motion against forest secretary well known and well accepted fact. Though the 2007-08 funds allocations for conservation in community of those interested in conservation is North Eastern States small, funds and resources are always a problem, Total number of wildlife sanctuaries and national support is minimum and even those who support parks in India the idea of conservation often disagree with each other vehemently, those who follow the fate of SOUTH ASIA 19 conservation will willingly point to the Bhutan enthusiasm of the conservation movement here. Tiger presence in Jigme Dorji NP overlaps with In spite of the bleak prospects and endless trouble snow leopard habitat there can be no denying that there is an enduring Nepal vibrancy to conservation efforts being made Vulture breeding centre set up in Chitwan across the length and breadth of the landscape. A cross section of the news reports in OPPORTUNITIES 19 ATREE Small Grants Programme this issue of the PA Update is perhaps a good For implementing watershed and livelihood indicator of this interest and the eagerness. In projects in Samrakshan’s MP office Assam the critically endangered pygmy hog is being given a new lease of life in an important UPCOMING 20 and path breaking captive breeding and re- World Conservation Congress introduction initiative. In Jammu & Kashmir the Forest Department has taken up a program with In the Supreme Court 21 the Central Reserve Police Force to sensitise troops stationed inside the Dachigam National Funds released under Project Tiger 21 Park, while authorities in the Betla National Park are, for the first time, involving local women in Forest occupancy and population estimates of the protection of the forests in the area. In tiger as per the refined methodology 23 Lakshadweep and in Maharashtra researchers and Protected Area Update NGOs have worked with the local communities to Vol. XIV, No. 3, June 2008 (No. 73) create conservation reserves in line with newer Editor: Pankaj Sekhsaria thinking on protected area creation and Editorial Assistance: Wrutuja Pardeshi management and in other parts of the country, be Illustrations: Madhuvanti Anantharajan it Orissa, Assam or Maharashtra, there are more Produced by: Kalpavriksh proposals for setting aside areas for the benefit of Ideas, comments, news and information may please wildlife. be sent to the editorial address: This is not to say that the problems are KALPAVRIKSH, Apartment 5, Shri Dutta Krupa, 908 not there. Poaching, habitat destruction, Deccan Gymkhana, Pune 411004, Maharashtra, encroachment, ingress of roads and other India. Tel/Fax: 020 – 25654239. infrastructure projects, diversion for commercial Email: [email protected] and industrial activities…the list is long and one Website: www.kalpavriksh.org can go on. Also the fact that in India we still cling Production of PA Update 72 has been supported to the ways of the past; still invoke the legacy of a by Foundation for Ecological Security (FES), long gone Prime Minister to argue for Anand. conservation in a politically, socially and Protected Area Update Vol XIV, No. 3 2 June 2008 (No. 73) Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) economically new India; that we continue to planning and implementation of eco-development show huge reluctance to learn from other in and around protected areas and eliciting public experiences from around the world, of new support for conservation of wildlife and wildlife methods and practices of co-managing along habitats through conservation awareness with communities; devolving power and programmes. ensuring stake and participation of a larger numbers of those negatively affected by the Source: ‘Wildlife meet focuses on training’, The present exclusionary paradigm of conservation. Hindu, 01/04/08. Even the initiatives mentioned above might have their own problems but in ASSAM concentrating only on what’s not right, we often tend to neglect and undervalue all the Radio link between forest and railway officials good intentions and the many efforts that are to save elephants continually being made. Not to acknowledge these would be unfair because the picture that The Assam Forest Department is likely to gets created then is only an incomplete one. implement a project that connects forest guards These are as real as the problems and the and train drivers through walkie–talkies so as to threats faced by our wildlife and their habitats prevent train accidents in forested regions and it is as important to oppose and fight the involving elephants. The idea has been mooted by threats as it is to recognize and support the the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) after the initiatives and the successes. successful implementation of such an initiative in There is a vibrancy to the conservation the Rajaji National Park, where, post-project, efforts here and it’s only right that they be accidents involving elephants came down to zero. given their due. Railway officials said that train drivers already carry walkie-talkies. All that would now need to be done is to synchronise these with the walkie-talkies carried by forest staff. Forest NEWS FROM INDIAN STATES Department officials said that they have been in touch with the Railway Board on the matter; and that vulnerable spots had been identified with a ANDHRA PRADESH request to the railways to regulate train speed on these particular routes. Meeting on wildlife training in Tirupati Source: Pullock Dutta. ‘Radio link to save jumbos A national workshop on Wildlife Management from train hits’, The Telegraph, 08/05/08. was held in March at the Sri Padmavathi Mahila Viswa Vidyalayam in Tirupati. Over Wildlife sanctuary proposed near Jatinga 150 delegates comprising forest officials, scientists, researchers and teachers drawn from The North Cachar Hills Autonomous District Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka Council has proposed the creation of a wildlife attended the workshop. sanctuary near the famous site of Jatinga where The five point agenda of the UGC- birds come in large numbers to supposedly sponsored meet included training personnel commit suicide. such as wildlife managers, biologists and The sanctuary will cover an area of a extension specialists for conservation and little over 43 sq. kms and extend over parts of the management of wildlife resources and for Hatikhali, Panimur and Borail hills. The boundary protected area management; discussion of of the proposed sanctuary is yet to be decided. measures for conserving wild biodiversity Tourism forms part of the rationale through a network of protected areas and ex- behind the sanctuary proposal - it is feared that situ conservation areas; launching of a special the number of tourists visiting Jatinga might fall drive for protection and conservation of on account of the fact that the phenomenon of endangered species; ensuring participatory bird suicides is no more considered to be a Protected Area Update Vol XIV, No. 3 3 June 2008 (No. 73) Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) supernatural event.