Wildlifers unhappy about Task Force

The Pioneer , Friday, April 15, 2005
Correspondent : Prerna Singh Bindra
The formation of the Tiger Task Force set up by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, has not met with enthusiasm from tiger experts, who fear that the lopsided constitution will undermine the very task it has been formed to achieve.

PK Sen, former director, Project Tiger anddirector, Tigers and Wildlife, WWF, says that hopes raised by the Prime Minster's concern and intention to form a task force to review, monitor and tackle tiger management within the country have been belied. "With the announcement of the committee my hopes, and I think I speak for those who are concerned about the tiger, are dashed."

Conservationists say that the committee, save for Valmik Thapar and retired forest officer, HS Panwar, lack the experience, expertise and the skill required for the task. The crisis that tigers are in today is two fold: poaching and habitat destruction and degradation. Down To Earth, which Ms Sunita Narain edits, has consistently taken the stand that forest guards and ranger should not be armed to protect themselves from poachers. Edits have also expressed that the system of protected areas as inviolate should be scrapped. How, then, does one justify her heading a force to protect tigers? Besides her experience in wildlife is negligible, voices Kishore Rithe, president Satpura Foundation.

SC Sharma, former additional Director-General of wildlife, MoEF also expresses his doubts about the selection of the committee, particularly the chair. Within their own field of expertise, members including the chairperson, are extremely competent. However, the task force should be headed by a person of such standing and expertise that there is no room for doubt and whose word cannot be questioned. The committee's recommendations should be inviolate to the Planning Commission and Finance Ministry, so that implementation is immediate and absolute. This committee will fall short, says Mr Sen, " All members, save one, advocate people participation in forest management and rights of those living within forest. While there is no denying that peoples' participation is very essential, protected areas, which form just over four per cent of Indias landmass must be inviolate. These are Indias bio-diversity repository, crucial for food and water security. If protected areas loose their sanctity, the tiger will die.

Sen adds that most members, bar one, have worked closely with the government before How much weight will lone voice carry, he questions.

According to sources in the Ministry of Environment and Forests, it is still uncertain whether the task force will actually come together with the present members. It is learnt that Mr Panwar who retired as a very senior forest officer might not be joining, as he has privately expressed his concern in becoming a member of an inadequate committee, says the source. Ms Sunita Narain was unavailable for comment.

 
SOURCE : The Pioneer, Friday, April 15, 2005
 


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