Department of Forests and Wildlife (DFW)

The Asian Age
New Delhi
20 Mar 2010

Wildlife conservationists believe the decision of the Prime Minister to carve an Independent Department of Forests and Wildlife (DFW) headed by a secretary from the Indian Forests Service will provide a major boost for wildlife conservation.

This dedicated service will focus on both conserving wildlife and in ensuring better health to forests which cover 21 per cent of the land mass of India and which are under threats from “development and mining” projects being executed in these reserved areas.A decision to this effect was taken at the fifth meeting of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL} chaired by the Prime Minister on Thursday and attended by its 45 members including Union minister for environment Jairam Ramesh. The NBWL has 15 non-official members from which four are part of the 12-member strong standing committee of the NBWL.The cadre of forest officers are jubilant at what they feel is a “historic” decision as this will open up their promotion avenues and is being seen as a first step for the formation of a separate ministry of forests and wildlife. The proposal for this bifurcation was made by standing committee member Valmik Thapar. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s succinct, “Do it” provided the requisite sanction to a demand which had been pending before the government for the last decade.Mr Thapar believes, “This decision will play a catalytic role in triggering change and is being perceived as a first step to the carving out of a separate ministry of wildlife and forests.” “Expenditure for the DFW has risen from Rs 3500 crore in 2008-9 to Rs 8,500 crore in 2009-10. Such large expenditure requires greater efficiency both at the central and state levels.”Mr Thapar believes the states will have to adjust to this decision. He cited the example of Rajasthan where the minister of forests is also holding the portfolio of the minister of mines. “This involves a clash of interests and this has to change,” said Mr Thapar. The Prime Minister had, in the course of the meeting, emphasised the early relocation of villagers living in the tiger reserves as an important step to save the tiger habitat. Commenting on the dwindling tiger population, Mr Ramesh had warned that already, in 18 tiger reserves, the tiger population had reached rock bottom. “Once it went below a certain percentage, it would be difficult for the species to recover,” Mr Ramesh had explained.NBWL members including Belinda Wright expressed concern at the “linear threats from development activity including building of roads and use of bulldozers in forests.”Members also called for future financial allocations being made on a site specific basis to prevent dilution of funds. Ms Wright cited the example of the Compensatory Afforestation Management Planning Authority (CAMPA) which had a corpus of Rs 13,000 crore. “From this, Rs 800 crore was released to 23 states but unfortunately the money has been whittled independent away,” she said. The NBWL also called for the involvement of experts to monitor wildlife reserves.

Forest guards open a new front against poachers

Daily News & Analysis
New Delhi
24 Feb 2010
Gyan Varma

To hunt down poachers, forest guards in 30 tiger reserves are now using equipment normally used by army personnel to locate landmines laid by terrorists and enemy soldiers.

For the first time, the ministry of environment and forests and WWF have come together to deploy deep search detectors to locate traps laid for tigers. And the equipment is helping, with several traps in some of the most protected tiger reserves of the country thwarted.

“We got a letter from officials in Dudhwa Tiger Reserve on how the deep search detector has helped them bring down the [poaching] menace. A total of 30 tiger reserves have been given 60 such detectors,” Samir Sinha, head of TRAFFIC, India, said.He said the idea was to equip forest guards with technology and train them, so that they carry out their responsibilities effectively.

“If technology is available, why not use it?” Sinha is also working on a project to train forest guards in collecting forensic evidence from sites where poachers have killed tigers or other animals. “There is no difference between investigating a murder and investigating poaching. Crucial forensic evidence, such as finger prints, shoe marks, tracks, is available at poaching sites. We need to arm our forest officials with the right technology for best results,” he said, adding that the government was planning to increase punishment for poachers.

In yet another instance of better use of resources, well-trained sniffer dogs are being widely used against the organised poaching mafia. Such dogs have been already deployed in reserves in five states, with Uttarakhand and Haryana leading the way. “Sniffer dogs are the new weapon against poachers. They can be used for tracking and recovering animal skin,” Sinha said.