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By Aayushi Sharma
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has combined the Project Tiger and Project Elephant divisions, creating a new division with the moniker “Project Tiger and Elephant Division,” raising worries among those involved in wildlife conservation.
The decision, which was reportedly made in an effort to cut costs, is likely to have an influence on the protection of both iconic creatures, especially tigers, according to numerous wildlife specialists around the nation.
Has the ministry justified the reason for the merger of these two important projects? What are the possible implications of the merger?
Success of Project Tiger
Tiger populations in India have more than tripled during the last 15 years. There were just 1,441 tigers in India in 2008. With 3,682 striped felines, India will account for three-fourths of the global tiger population in 2023.
The program’s exclusive concentration on tigers has been one of the main factors in Project Tiger’s success, which celebrated its 50th anniversary earlier this year. Technically skilled officers were assigned to Project Tiger, and they, together with the organization’s only goal of tiger conservation, were crucial to the increase in the population of the large cat.
Source: bbc
According to Dr. Amita Kanaujia, Director of the Institute of Wildlife Sciences at the University of Lucknow, each animal must receive individualized care to solve its particular problems, such as the tigers in Project Tiger. The combination of Project Tiger and Project Elephant has actually degraded the two initiatives.
Lack of success of Project Elephant
Project Elephant established in 1992 by MoEF&CC aimed to offer financial and technical assistance to states’ wildlife management initiatives for their wild Asian elephant populations that are allowed to roam free.
Project Elephant has failed to create an effective conservation system for elephants in India due to a lack of funding and legislation providing legal protection. Elephants’ natural habitats are also plagued by human encroachment and rising wildlife-human conflict. Additionally, illicit mining is rife in some elephant routes in the northeast and central regions of the country.
Lack of funds for future execution
According to a research, the combined budget for Project Tiger and Project Elephant initiatives in 2023–24 is Rs 331 crore. This represents a decrease from the total budgetary allocation for 2022–2023 of Rs 335 crore, which included Rs 300 crore for Project Tiger and Rs 35 crore for Project Elephant.
When the budgets for Project Tiger and Project Elephant were combined, the actual fund released in 2022–2023 was only Rs 220 crore, or around two–thirds of the total amount.
What challenges are expected when conservation projects are merged?
Each project comes with unique challenges
Activists have questioned the decision, arguing that given the distinct nature of the obstacles in their conservation, both programs needed independent groups and heads. They contend that the current action will weaken the emphasis of both programs.
An official from Madhya Pradesh forest department said, “The process of requisition and release has become extremely complicated in recent years and most tiger reserves are suffering. Around Rs 300 crore was allocated in the last financial year for 53 tiger reserves and even that amount has not been released,”
The problem of biased funds split
The main concerns of several officials over the merger is to find out the basis of the funding allocation. It is not yet clear if the basis of allocation is the number of species in the area, the area of the research or any other criteria.
Any uncertainty or alteration in the fund allocation from the central government is sure to have an impact on conservation efforts because finance is a major factor in the success or failure of any initiative
What are the concerns raised by experts?
According to Dr. Partha J Das, in house expert CFC India and Environment and climate specialist, Aaranyak, “If the decision has been taken to make the management of the TRs and ERs more efficient ensuing sufficient flow of funds accompanied with the required policy reforms in the management regime, then only the merger move may do good to the much-needed protection of these two mega species as well conservation of their habitats. However, one must remember the inherent challenges such as the different priorities and concerns of both the programs and the very different approaches adopted for management interventions for the survival and well-being of these two species of animals.”
“Besides, there are also concerns whether it will result in a competitive situation regarding more priority given to one of the animals compared to the other in different situations. With the menacingly growing numbers of cases of human-elephant interactions leading to conflicts and related loss and damage including death of both elephants and human beings, we don’t want to see the importance of the cause of elephant conservation dwindling as a result of this merger in the coming days. Both the programs should thrive successfully on their own merits. Through such conservation efforts, not only these keystone species and their habitat landscapes, but also biodiversity and climate change mitigation are also benefited.” added Dr. Das.
According to senior wildlife biologist Dr. Dipankar Lahkar, “Due to the biological worth of both flagship species as well as their significance in India’s culture and belief system, it is important to be rational when creating policies and allocating funds. Since both species co-occur in many Indian forests, I believe the first area of uncertainty around the combination of the two activities needs to be addressed carefully and should be participatory, giving the civil society a chance to offer suggestions.”
References
https://groundreport.in/project-elephant-in-india-and-contradictions/
