NEW DELHI: The Tiger task force has recommended involvement of the local communities in the protection of tigers. The exclusion of the communities in forest management and wildlife resources affects the intelligence gathering critical to preventing poaching, the task force said at the end of the second round of deliberations spread over two days.

Talking to reporters here on Thursday, Sunita Narain , tiger task force, cited the example of Periyar Tiger Reserve in Kerala where Project Tiger had shown excellent results, primarily due to the involvement of local communities. "The task force believes that Periyar approach should be adopted as a model for all other tiger reserves,'' she said.

It was pointed out that in spite of the organised investigations and professional law enforcement, sandalwood smuggler, Veerappan, had flourished in the forests for many years because of the support he received from the local communities who had been denied access to benefits of forests. This is the case in tiger conservation also, she said adding that exclusion of the communities in forest management and wildlife resources affects that gathering of information.

According to the task force, the recent Ministry of Environment and Forests ruling that ``all rights and concessions (traditional rights to collect minor forest product) could not be enjoyed in protected areas'' had increased the conflict enormously. Under this direction, roughly 3.5 to 4 million people living inside and along he fringes of protected areas had lost all sources of livelihood and revenue that had exacerbated destitution and in turn anger against the tiger.

Claiming that tiger conservation strategies had failed in setting up enforcement networks capable of breaking organised wildlife crime to creating conditions, Ms Narain suggested a review of tiger conservation concept in the country. ``Indian tiger faces huge challenges; extensive, highly organised international poaching networks, lack of professional law enforcement to check international crime and abysmally low conviction rate for poachers. But most importantly, increasing hostility of local communities who share the tiger's habitat because of years of mismanagement and conservation policies that exclude people from protected areas,'' Ms Narain said.

Experts also voiced their disquiet over the Government's proposal to set up a national wildlife bureau to check poaching saying that while the bureau was necessary, the huge size was not required. Instead, they suggested a "lean and mean'' organisational structure which could track crime, manage database and follow investigations.