‘Public-private partnership is way forward’

|
  • 0

‘Public-private partnership is way forward’

Sunday, 09 December 2018 | SANGEETA YADAV

‘Public-private partnership is way forward’

Former wildlife warden of Ranthambore Balendu Singh talks to Sangeeta Yadav about how the rich legacy of Nature and wildlife in the area has evolved and why it is considered to be a successful model

Tell us about the history of Ranthambore?

The National Park is not just a Tiger Reserve but also holds a significant place in our history. The Ranthambore Fort days back to the 9th century and is attributed to the Chauhans and then Akbar. The Trinetra Ganesha Temple inside the fort dates even further; it finds a mention in Valmiki’s Ramayan which was translated in the 4th century. The deity is that of a three-eyed Ganesha with his wives — Ridhi and Siddhi and his children Shubh and Labh. This temple also has a Post Office and in Hindu marriage, people from all over India send their first wedding invitation to Trinetra Ganesha Temple and the priest dutifully reads it out. Five years back, the fort was declared as UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Moreover, Ranthambore is the best example of dry scrub forest which makes it best for photography. Around 80 per cent of tiger photographs and clippings worldwide have been taken here. Because of its dry nature of the forest, the visibility is very good and the natural light is fantastic.

How did the forest change for over the years?

Back then the park, covering 392 sq km was protected by the maharajas and villagers who have been residing in the forest for centuries. The park was established as the Sawai Madhopur Game Sanctuary in 1955 by the Government and declared a Project Tiger reserve in 1973. Since 1950 till now, 70 per cent of our landmass covering forest has shrunk to just under 20 per cent. It has been an uphill task for us to keep these forests connected so that the gene pool of the tigers does not get stagnant. This is our biggest challenge.

Has the tiger population increased?

In 2004-2005, the population of breeding tigers had come down to almost 11. But today we have recorded over 64 breeding adults, excluding the cubs and sub-adults. This is the largest ever counted the population of Ranthambore. Even when the maharajas had this forest, we never had more than 40 breeding tigers.

What led to this success?

Ranthambore’s deputy conservator of forests (DCF) YK Sahu, along with his team worked closely with the non-government organisations. As a wildlife warden, I assisted the Forest Department in what they do and be a bridge between the Government and the NGOs. The public-private partnership is the way to go forward. It is going to take a while and through educating people, who are equal stakeholders in this, about what you are paid to do and spreading awareness amongst villagers on co-existing with the wildlife will get us there.

Do we have enough funds?

Forest is managed and maintained by each State. Any area which is declared a National Park is then funded by the Centre, through the implementation of the policies remains with the States. Six years back, Ranthambore National Park declared itself self-funded. The entry fee collected from the tourists, which earlier used to go to the exchequers, now stays with the park. Last year, the collection of Ranthambore was Rs28 crores.

It used to take us three to four months to compensate the villagers whose cattle were killed by the tigers. But now with the gate money staying here, their compensation time has come down to two weeks.

What about the implementation of the policies?

We have been good at capturing the poachers. In the old system, you waited for the poacher to make a kill and then went and caught him. The animal is already gone. The success is in preventing him from poaching and this is where Ranthambore has been good. In the last three years, we have been successful in capturing more than 30 people involved in poaching. It is not just tigers, but Sambar, Nil Gai, Spotted Deer as well.

Since 2005, we have had a couple of unnatural deaths attributed to revenge killing or animal conflict. We have been successful the way the Forest Department of Rajasthan has worked.

Is there corruption?

Trade and wildlife are second only to the drug trade and human trafficking. It is a global trade which involves enormous amounts of money. The lure of money will always be there. Corruption is rampant in our country in almost every section of the society. Unfortunately, it is deeply rooted in our DNA but it is up to us how you limit it. It is wrong to say that everybody is corrupt. We have some people who standout on their honesty. We have the best laws for wildlife conservation but the implementation of it is a big issue. In some cases, wildlife poaching and violation of rules have been done by influential people or are found to be a relative of politician or bureaucrats.

How is technology helping?

We are using modern day technology like remote sensing cameras, drones and camera trap. Every villager has GPS enabled smartphones through which they capture pug marks, kills and send it to the forest department. So we know where the animal is moving and can monitor and protect it.

Why there is zero rate of conviction in wildlife poaching cases?

The culprits are getting captured but go scot-free because the case that is presented to the court has not been prepared well at the lowers level. It is important to educate the people to present the case which is non-refutable. If the case is good, a poacher will go to jail for a long time.

Sunday Edition

CAA PASSPORT TO FREEDOM

24 March 2024 | Kumar Chellappan | Agenda

CHENNAI EXPRESS IN GURUGRAM

24 March 2024 | Pawan Soni | Agenda

The Way of Bengal

24 March 2024 | Shobori Ganguli | Agenda

The Pizza Philosopher

24 March 2024 | Shobori Ganguli | Agenda

Astroturf | Lord Shiva calls for all-inclusiveness

24 March 2024 | Bharat Bhushan Padmadeo | Agenda

Interconnected narrative l Forest conservation l Agriculture l Food security

24 March 2024 | BKP Sinha/ Arvind K jha | Agenda