Jairam Ramesh at the presscon on National Board for Wildlife (March 20th)

On creation of Separate Department for forests and wildlife

It is not new wine in old bottles, or old wine in old bottles or whatever. We need the specialization to manage and conserve our forests and wildlife. The idea is not to have a top heavy bureaucracy with power concentrated in the centre. It is hoped
The idea of creating a separate department for forests and wildlife so that the critical wildlife habitats can be effectively protected and monitored:

But where, Sir, are the Critical Wildlife Habitats? They haven't been notified?

Jairam agreed. He said that, "even though the settlement of rights under the Forest Rights Act has been expedited the the notification of Critical Wildlife Habitats has lagged behind, indeed has not happened at all,. We have only gone on one track. States are defying the Forest Conservation Act.


On buffer zones:
States are delaying in declaring buffer zones for tiger reserves, and this is not laziness on their part,. Delay in notification of buffers is not accidental, but a deliberate design, so that projects which will irrevocably damage biodiversity and habitats, can be cleared more easily, to allow for proliferation of harmful projects. If buffers are declared, clearance will be more stringent and difficult.
Take the example of Tadoba—there are no less than 40 to 50 power and mining projects around it. (Of which only one has been refused). Obviously the state is dragging it s feet in declaring buffer for the reserve.
We need cooperation from the states.

Will decoration of buffer zones be with retrospective effect?
M B Lal said no.
JR: We don’t know—but I for one will not shy away from declaring buffer from retrospective effect, if clearances for projects proven to have a devastating, deleterious impact on the habitat and biodiversity, we are prepared to cancel the clearance. A classic example is the Athirapally project which had got clearance. We have issued a show cause notice to the Kerala Electricity Board, because of the opposition from local panchayats, the Kerala Biodiversity board, scieitsts, NGOs and the Kerala’s Principle chief Conservator of Forests—who has incidentally been with the Kerala Electricity board for ten years. There is enough evidence to show that it will do grave harm to the ecology and the biodiversity of the region.
On tiger deaths
That the number of deaths last year was unnaturally high, that we must expect more Sariska’s. We drew the attention of the PM that many reserves were in a precarious state of 16 other tiger reserves—and that we can expect other Sariska’s in the future. We also appraised him of the problems in certain states—like Madhya Pradesh, and the unnatural mortality in Corbett. And he has promise to lend the weight of his office and take up the matter with the CMs of these states.
Rehabilitation and relocation of people
Out of the 80,000 families to be relocated from tiger reserves, only 3,000 have been relocated so far. 77,000 need to be relocated, and will require a financial package of 8,000 crores. We have a current budget of 2,000 crores and the PM was appraised of this gap—and (on being questioned) No, we won’t be taking money from the World Bank for this.
The important thing is we are also looking at voluntary relocation of villages within Protected Areas, other than tiger reserves—this is equally important . the GOI will support any voluntary relocation from all protected areas, and will offer the same relocation package as it does to TRs.

On wetlands
Our wetlands are disappearing at an alarming, unprecedented rate---and they are crucial eco-systems. A classic example is Kolkata where a number of wetlands have been lost to real estate. We are putting in place a set of regulations, under the Environment Protection Act, 1986 to protect wetlands and hope to place it before the Parliament before May.

On marine areas
Most of our PAs and conservation has been land-based, and it has been decided to give greater attention to our coastline and islands, and the marine ecosystem.

Illegal mining
The issue of illegal mines also came up at the meeting. Illegal mining for iron ore and bauxite is rampant in various states like Orissa, Jharkhand, Karnataka..These have a grave impact on critical wildlife habitats, corridors—and also impacting livelihoods of local people.
On incentivising states
No, there cannot be penalty for states. I do not believe in penalties. we have to persuade, cajole, give financial incentives for them to preserve ecology and biodiversity. to protect the tiger.
We have seen that there has been no recruitment for field staff for years and the existing staff is over 50. so can the centre think of providing a special financial package for new frontline staff, for say a five year period. This translates to 500 crores over a five year period. , and yes, we are working towards how we can go about this.

Save the house sparrow

Prerna Singh Bindra

Boisterous, perky, pesky house sparrows, once a common sight, are now rapidly disappearing, not only in India but worldwide. Rapid urbanisation has contributed to the decline in the house sparrow’s population. But the trend can be reversed if we are more caring

Most of us would remember a time when sparrows were part of our everyday life — there were so many of them that their presence bordered on being irksome. They chattered incessantly; they made our homes theirs — hunting for nooks and corners where they could set up house. Determined little creatures they were too, for once they made up their mind to take up residence nothing could dissuade them.

An upside-down lamp shade in our dining room was a particular favourite, as was the crevice behind a painting. They were up before dawn and no sooner had we thrown the door open, they would rush in,indignant at being denied right of passage and in a major hurry to begin the day’s work.

Their energy was tiresome to behold. As the day wore on, the busy little pair did not let up, flying to and fro carrying straw, grass and such other necessities that go into making the prefect sparrow home. Their beaks would be overloaded — one could have fed a horse and kept him happy on the amount they carried — and most of it would tumble out and mess the floor.

We made half-hearted attempts to get rid of the nests, but we could never quite do it. Their distress calls, when they saw their home had been swept clean, would melt our hearts, as did their fierce determination. For no sooner had we removed the nest, they would be back at it again with renewed energy.

The problem was the heat. If the birds were in, the ceiling fan was out. Ceiling fans are murderous predators and can cruelly cut the flight of these diminutive birds. It happened once when a noisy creature, flying exuberantly across the room to meet another equally voluble mate, was brutally chopped in two. It was a grisly sight with blood spattered on the floor and the wall. Worse, the bewildered mate circled over the still body, chirping plaintively.

That was it.

After this tragedy, a new law prevailed at our home: Fans were not to be switched on under any circumstances, whatever the provocation, no matter how high the mercury shot up. Defeated, we suffered the heat and the sparrows were given the right of way, albeit amid much grumbling.

I do not know when they disappeared, but suddenly the fans ran from spring through summer, the floor sparkled unlittered with bits of grass and other more messy, icky stuff, and the air was devoid of cheery bird calls.

We missed them.

Later, much later, I was to realise that the ‘common’ house sparrow hadn’t done the vanishing act just at our home, it was a worldwide phenomenon. Studies in the UK have shown that the house sparrow population has declined by more than 65 per cent, and the same trend has been observed in India. In fact, an ornithological survey conducted by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research has confirmed that the sparrow population in Andhra Pradesh has dropped by 80 per cent; in Gujarat and Rajasthan, it has declined by 20 per cent. The loss in many coastal areas is also estimated to be about 70 per cent.

Who would have ever thought that the tribe of the boisterous, perky, pesky house sparrow, once a common sight, is now on the decline? How come we never noticed? Or cared? How could we let this bird, so much a part of our lives, vanish forever?

There are many reasons attributed to the decline: Sprawling bungalows with their nooks and crannies have given way to high rises and malls; instead of hedges-- a good dining spot and ideal for roosting--we now have wrought iron or barbed wire fences; there are no messy shrubs and bushes in gardens, just manicured lawns with exotic plants sprayed and covered with poisonous pesticide that does the bird or anyone else little good. Once, women would gather together for a good gossip as they cleaned grains in the courtyard--dropping some inevitably for a hungry bird. Now, grains come clean and plastic-wrapped from the nearest Big Bazaar. Other theories indicate that electromagnetic contamination from cellphone towers can be lethal for sparrows while unleaded petrol and pesticide kill insects on which baby sparrows are raised.

Help to the once ubiquitous bird now comes from one Nasik-based Mohammed Dilawar, who has taken up the sparrow’s cause rather than wait for the Government to wake up from its slumber. “The sparrow,” says Dilawar, “is to urban ecosystems what the canary was to mines.That it is dying out means our cities are in trouble”. He has decided to help this hardy little creature, besides studying the sparrow, increasing awareness, working with builders to provide for more bird-friendly colonies. He has been making and selling wooden nest boxes on a nonprofit basis.

As for my home, the birds are back again. With a little help of course. We have provided for a good dining table with birdseed, broken rice, etc, and water for a bird bath. There are provisions for a sauna too; a mud bath where an entire flock wallows in the dust and generally brings the house down with the din.

The best part is the fans run too. Thanks to the nest boxes, lined with some straw, the birds have changed address. That awful cranny behind the painting was pokey; they prefer their swanky new living quarters where board and lodging are free.

On Saturday, March 20, World House Sparrow Day, take the plunge and help save the sparrow from vanishing from our world.

In The Pioneer on March 19, 2010

Ads on TV achieve little....

Ads on TV achieve little, equip those in front of the battle
1,411 tigers..really?

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Only 1,411 left…goes the now famous Aircel ad. But is this shocking, shameful number also an exaggeration? The ad quotes the 2008 All India Tiger Census—it’s two years, and many tiger deaths later now. In 2009, we lost 86 tigers, up from 32 poached in 2008. These represent only the recorded cases, the real mortality would be much higher. Tiger skins and bones seized are just the tip of the iceberg—enforcement agencies say that for every one seized, about ten slip away…unnoticed. Of course, new cubs or ‘recruits’ have been added, but not enough to compensate the loss. Why am I reasoning, anyway? Even the highest office, the Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh has confessed in a moment of characteristic candour, “ that this number is an exaggeration.”

In 2010, the International Year of The Tiger, ten deaths have been recorded. One, if you please, was felled by poisoned arrows and country guns, tied to a bamboo stake, the meat cooked and eaten, and the skin sold for a neat profit.

Why?

Why with all this buzz about the tiger have we failed to protect it? Ad blitzkrieg apart, India has a special conservation initiative, Project Tiger, strict protectionist laws, a Tiger Task Force constituted by the Prime Minister—yet their numbers have dipped to the lowest ever, in two reserves the Panthera tigris is extinct and in 14 others extinction beckons.

I find the answer, atleast in part, in Muhammad Umar, ‘Tiger Reporter’, Palamu Tiger Reserve, Jharkhand. As the designation implies, it was Muhammad’s job to doggedly follow and monitor, the tiger. His day began at 4 am, scouting for pugmarks, spoor, scat, following the lone tigress in his beat well into the night, armed with just a lathi, and a conviction to protect his ward. He rarely took leave to visit his family in a village some miles away; ‘Rani’ would miss him’, he reasoned. Plus the staff strength was too less—if he left, his beat, and the tigress would go unprotected. In my next visit to the reserve, Muhammad was no more. He died on duty, in the forest. Killed—by an elephant? By naxals? We don’t know. He was one among our vast green army protecting the tiger, the forests—and our source of water. There are many such unsung soldiers—I must mention a forest guard I met in Kaziranga. His name escapes me currently, but I remember him well. His hand was twisted, mutilated by a tigress he had helped rescue when she strayed into a village. Most in his position would bear a grudge, shirk their task. But our man went about his job, walking the reserve, a rusty .315 slung over his shoulder. “The tigress was frightened by the mob, she was a mother protecting her cubs, who could blame her?” he explained. Incidentally, he has been on the job nearly two decades, hasn’t yet made it to the permanent rolls, and gets a mere 1,700 per month for his trouble. Usually, six months past the due date.

Yet this underpaid, unequipped foot soldier is the man on the front to save the tiger. Little wonder that our tigers continue to be slaughtered. Though well-documented, the plight of the forest guard rarely find a voice in the corridors of power—his condition has remained unchanged in the 35 years of Project Tiger. Unless we equip the man on the front, can we save the tiger?

Of course, this is just one problem that plagues the tiger. For all the stringent punishment that the Wildlife Protection Act dictates, barely one per cent of poachers are convicted. We are still fighting for every inch of tiger habitat, as business houses backed by politicians push for mines, highways, power projects, dams. Worse, the states on whom rests the final onus of protection, are simply not bothered. Funds to tiger reserves are delayed, apathetic officers continue to man reserves, there is resistance to create and protect buffer zones and corridors critical for survival of tigers and there continues to be 50 per cent vacancy at the field level in most reserves. And while Project Tiger (or the National Tiger Conservation Authority, as it is now called) might try and prevail, it has but an advisory role and is usually conveniently ignored.

For all its good intent, Project Tiger, forgive the pun, remains a Paper Tiger.

the power of the pen...

This one is for all those who ask me: Why are all your stories depressing (aside: they are coz, frankly thats' the conservation scene in India--and elsewhere--today; and worse)..and when they question the impact of the stories. Is their any impact? Does it make a difference? In fact forget them....i wonder all the time, question my writing that i have been doing for over a decade doggedly. All these years..struggling, fighting..to what effect..does it really matter? Does it make a difference? Or am i merely rambling on...

Oh..i know, somewhere, somehow your writings leave a mark..inspire..or even result in change...it is really beyond anyone to quantify that. Still, as i sat in doldrums yesterday, despairing at my foolishness -and wanting so desperately to walk away, i decided to take stock. And so i looked at at some of the stories i have done say, in the last year...

I must say i was pleased by the results. Here it is:

a) Simlipal....i was the first journalist..if not amongst the first people (i was with Adiya Panda, a keen, dedicated wildlifer), forest guys included, to go into simlipal tiger reserve in orissa after it was the attacked by naxals--i wrote about it, and the terrible tragedy of simlipal ..and today--it has been taken up us a special initiative by centre --a new team of officers was put in pace, rehabilitation of villages inside core is getting priority (after being comatose for over three decades), there is talk of Special Tiger Protection force, funds were released--the Minister (thank you, sir) took special personal interest in the reserve...

b) the Gola corridor story-on a critical tiger and elephant corridor in the Terai Arc which has been all but eroded by a sleeper factory, an IOC depot and an ITBP camp (besides the other blocks which already existed like highway etc). Noone wanted this story done, some even tried to prevent my doing it.
Glad to record here has been a flurry of activity--the National Tiger Conservation authority member secretary went there, as did a committee from the MoEF, high level meetings were called by the MoEF--and talk is on with all three --IOC, ITBP and the railways...and here is hoping that atleast some will have the grace to move away, FAST. The talks with ITBP have been positive. here is hoping that we will be able to salvage some of this and give back this critical passage to the wilds.

c) a series i did on the Terai..a few had an impact--Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary was noticed, and brought up in Parliament, as was Valmiki , which finally got a director..
but i m happiest (sorry, not possible being happy,doing a story like that--on the contrary) about a story i did on Corbett Tiger Reserve..about how wayward tourism was hitting at the heart of CTR (you can read this story on my blog). How a young wild tiger was packed off to the zoo thanks to the misdeeds of tourists and resorts. How resorts had screwed up corridors etc etc.
This led to a committee being set up by the Ministry of Tourism --and a study conducted by them. the report can be read on the incredible india website. The Uttarakhand government has been warned. There have also been questions in parliament on the same...(on feb 24th--read it on tigernet)