INDIAN TIGER IN A STATE OF TERMINAL EMERGENCY MADE WORSE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 000614

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR OES/PCI, OES/ETC, OES/ENV, AND SCA/INS
STATE PASS TO NSF FOR INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS
INTERIOR FOR FRED BAGLEY AND MINI NAGENDRAN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV IN
SUBJECT: INDIAN TIGER IN A STATE OF TERMINAL EMERGENCY MADE WORSE
BY DEPLETING FORESTS

NEW DELHI 00000614 001.2 OF 002



1. SUMMARY. The much awaited Tiger Census Report and the State of
the Forest Report were released by the Ministry of Environment and
Forests (MOEF) recently. Although the Tiger census made headlines
by officially recognizing the massive decline in the tiger
population, it did not come as a surprise to most specialists in the
field. In the wake of the media outcry following the release, Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh asked all Chief Ministers to take personal
charge of tiger conservation and forest management in their States.
Aside from over-inflated estimates from prior censuses, habitat loss
and poaching were cited as the two major factors contributing to the
tiger's decline. However, equally important is the government's
development first policies. END SUMMARY.

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PAPER TIGERS COUNTED NO MORE
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2. It is now official that tiger numbers in India have dropped to
1411, less than half of the earlier projected estimate of over 3600.
The much awaited tiger census, the first conducted using scientific
methodology and in conjunction with the Wildlife Institute of India,
covers the whole of the country with the exception of the
Maoist-infested wildlife sanctuaries of central India and Sunderbans
National Park in West Bengal where the counting has been delayed.
While some of the decline can be attributed to grossly inflated
prior estimates, poaching and loss of forest remain the major
challenges to tiger survivability. Although the census notes the
presence of some success stories such as Corbett and Ranthambore
National Parks, most parks have undergone a sharp decline in numbers
- most seriously at Kanha and Panna National Parks which are facing
a potential total loss of tigers.


3. The Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007 - 2012) has allocated $153
million for tiger conservation which will include upgrading eight
protected areas to tiger reserves as well as relocating communities
living inside parks. Th% Prime Minister reacted to the tiger census
by asking the Chief Ministers of each state to take personal charge
of tiger conservation and formulate State Tiger Conservation Plans
that include park management, recruitment of new staff, and
provision of adequate resources for state forest services. In
addition, the GOI announced a ten-fold increase in the relocation
package for families living inside parks from INR 100,000 (approx.
USD 2,522) to INR 1,000,000 (approx. USD 25.220). The entire sum is
not intended to be given directly to each family but rather to pay
for all expenses associated with relocation such as transportation
and housing.


4. India's tiger count and forest loss has caused justifiably
anguished reactions in the press although much of the reporting on
the new government initiatives to address the problem has been
inaccurate. For example, all national dailies noted the creation of
eight "new" tiger reserves giving the impression the GOI was setting
aside new land for tigers. This is in fact not the case. MoEF's
Inspector General of Wildlife, Dr. R.B. Lal clarified to Emboffs
that the eight new reserves are in fact existing protected areas
with indigenous tiger populations which will be reclassified as
tiger reserves.


5. Former Project Tiger Director, P.K. Sen told Emboffs he believes
the GOI's new plan has a few flaws and does not address all the
issues. Sen commented that creating more tiger reserves will reduce
already strained resources at existing reserves and believes a
better approach would be to strengthen conservation efforts at
existing tiger reserves. Sen also noted a major hurdle that was not
addressed was the manner in which GOI funding for tiger and wildlife
conservation is allocated. The GOI provides funding directly to
state governments for conservation but substantial sums are diverted
at the state level to unrelated projects and also to the payment of
state government salaries for officials not involved in wildlife
conservation. Sen stated that what money does get through for
wildlife conservation usually shows up about halfway through the
fiscal year.

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FOREST LOSS: THE COST OF DEVELOPMENT
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6. The State of the Forest Report notes that between 2003 and 2005
India lost over 700 sq kms of forest cover while over 600 sq km of
healthy forests have been reduced to degraded forest despite GOI
policy, in effect during the same period, to increase total forest
cover until one-third of India's landmass was covered by forest. At
present, India has 20.6 percent of its land under forest cover out
of which only 1.7 percent is categorized as dense forest and 10.12

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percent as moderately dense forest. The remainder is considered
degraded forest. Moreover experts believe the loss of forest cover
is substantially more than what is indicated in the State of the
Forest Report due to the fact that GOI figures include ecologically
questionable monoculture plantations as forests. An article in the
Times of India noted that if the monoculture plantations were
removed from the calculus, forest loss between 2003 and 2005 would
exceed 6000 sq kms.


7. The vast majority of the forest loss noted in the State of the
Forest Report is due to increases in infrastructure development and
mining activities in forested areas, including in legally inviolate
protected areas. While the MoEF is required to approve
Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) and green light only projects
that are within environmental regulations, the rules are routinely
flouted in the name of development. EIAs are often fraudulent but
approved anyway, one such case which was reported in the national
press involved an EIA for a bauxite mining operation in tropical
Maharashtra State lifted directly from a mine located in Russia.
The EIA described the vegetation as being predominantly a mix of
spruce and birch which while prevalent in Russia, are not in
Maharashtra. Despite the glaring deficiencies in the EIA, it was
approved by the MoEF. As a result there is little to no faith in
the EIA process. Local communities feel short-changed by losing
access to forest which also leads to greater human-wildlife conflict
due to habitat loss.


8. In discussing the State of the Forests, Kanchi Kohli, an
environmental activist, told Emboffs that between 2003 and 2007,
approximately 311,220 hectares of forest has been cleared with MoEF
approval for non-forest use. This amounts to 25 percent of all
government clearances given since 1980 when the Forest Conservation
Act was framed. Krishnendu Bose, a wildlife filmmaker, touched on
the point saying he regrets the fact policymakers tend to equate
forests with money. They see the forest only as land to be divided
between development projects and mining concerns with the leftover
to be distributed to tribal communities.


9. COMMENT: The Tiger Census and the State of the Forest report
are both indicative of a malaise that runs throughout the country
when it comes to wildlife and forest conservation. Although it is
broadly agreed that tigers require inviolate areas free from human
habitation, very little sincere efforts have gone into creating such
areas while a great deal of mining, development, and poaching has
occurred in supposedly protected areas. Despite over 35 years of
official conservation efforts embodied in the launch of Project
Tiger in 1972, State Forest Departments have not managed to
successfully relocate most communities, nor have they managed to
help communities have a stake in saving the forests. However, the
ten fold increase in the relocation package for families living in
protected areas is a good sign that the GOI is finally willing to
take on this sensitive task. Whether the money is in fact used for
its intended purpose remains to be seen. END COMMENT.

MULFORD