Indian Tiger Reserves: Tribals Get Out, Tourists Welcome

The report notes that 'Project Tiger' is celebrated for its success in increasing the tiger population, which grew from 2,967 tigers in 2018 to 3,682 in 2022. However, this success has come at a significant cost to tribal communities and other forest dwellers who have faced displacement as a result of the project's conservation efforts.

Displacement wreaks havoc on the affected communities, the report notes, adding that the designation of an area as a tiger reserve often serves as a pretext for such displacement. Among the 55 tiger reserves in the country, five have reported no tigers at all.

The rate of displacement has surged since 2021. This reflects a 967 per cent increase in displacement per tiger reserve in the post-2021 period.

Forced evictions frequently involve severe human rights abuses, the report states. During these evictions, homes are often demolished, and indigenous communities lose their ability to hunt, fish, gather food, and access religious, sacred, and cultural sites, burial grounds and medicinal plants. In Kaziranga National Park, between 2014 and 2016, at least 57 individuals were killed in encounters – 27 in 2014, 23 in 2015, and 7 in 2016.

Project Tiger initially started with nine tiger reserves spanning 18,278 sq. km. It has now expanded to 55 reserves covering 78,735.5966 sq. km, which represents over 2.30 per cent of India's geographical area. Of this total area, 43,513.0166 sq. km is designated as the core area, while 35,222.58 sq. km constitutes the buffer zone.

In 2021, it was reported that approximately 110,000 people living in 273 villages within the 'core' areas of 28 tiger reserves across the country were identified for eviction due to concerns related to tiger conservation.

According to the Wild Life (Protection) Act of 1972, constructing commercial tourist lodges, hotels, zoos, and safari parks within a sanctuary or National Park is prohibited unless approved by the National Board for Wild Life. The Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change has issued guidelines for sustainable eco-tourism in forest and wildlife areas. Additionally, the National Tiger Conservation Authority has issued guidelines for establishing tiger safaris in the buffer and fringe areas of tiger reservesIn the Melghat Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra, it was observed that the buffer area was fragmented by highways and railway lines, leading to animal fatalities. Additionally, high tension electric lines passing through the tiger reserves were not insulated. A total of 282.914 km of these HT lines passed through all the tiger reserves. Between 2012 and 2018, eight tigers were reported to have died due to electrocution

In the Melghat Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra, it was observed that the buffer area was fragmented by highways and railway lines, leading to animal fatalities. Additionally, high tension electric lines passing through the tiger reserves were not insulated. A total of 282.914 km of these HT lines passed through all the tiger reserves. Between 2012 and 2018, eight tigers were reported to have died due to electrocution.

The report adds that residents of core areas and surrounding protected buffer zones in tiger reserves suffer human rights abuses – such as restrictions on their freedom of movement, arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture, ill-treatment, sexual and gender-based violence, and even extra-judicial killings by forest department personnel and other security forces. These violations often occur as the residents pursue their livelihoods, such as collecting honey, flowers, and firewood, hunting, or fishing in or near the tiger reserve, or when they oppose or resist evictions.

Focus and Factoids by Arunima Mandwariya.