Thaindian News

New Delhi, Nov 7 (IANS) Ahead of the hearing on the public interest litigation (PIL) seeking banning of tourism in Madhya Pradesh’s tiger habitats by the apex court, wildlife experts Monday slammed the idea, terming it an “anti-community step”.

“The PIL proposes that the tiger reserves should be free from all human interference. What we are saying is that wildlife tourists are not even involved in poaching and harming the wildlife ecology. Then why have such an anti-community move,” said Belinda Wright, executive director, Wildlife Protection Society Of India (WPSI).

Amit Sankhala, an expert on tiger conservation, said: “Tourism is a powerful conservation tool that is a source of employment for many communities that inhabit the forest regions.”

“Yes, there are management issues with the way tourism is handled in these areas, but the solution to it is not banning tourism completely,” said Sankhala, the grandson of Project Tiger founder Kailash Sankhala.

The hearing is slated for Nov 9.

The PIL against ban on tourism in the reserves was filed by Ajay Dubey, secretary of Bhopal-based environment protection NGO Prayatna in the Madhya Pradesh High Court. After it ruled against him, he then appealed the decision in the Supreme Court.

Hearing the plea, the apex court had asked the Madhya Pradesh government to inform the court about the extent of tourism carried out in core areas of tiger reserves of Madhya Pradesh and the situation of core areas in comparison to other states.

Satpura, Pench, Kanha, Bandhavgarh, Panna and Sanjay are some of the tiger reserves in Madhya Pradesh.

The court questioned why tourism is not directed in buffer zones of reserves, a thin area of protection surrounding the reserve where the human communities are given alternative livelihood after relocation.