Man vs. Tiger: Will the eviction of forest-dwellers help conservation?

‘Man versus nature’ is a popular terminology used to define a state of conflict between humans and nature and its various elements - including animals and their respective territories. To reduce the conflict and to contain the wild animals in a restricted space, modern people came up with the concept of 'reserve forests'. 

 

India is home to approximately 70% of the world’s tiger population. To protect the tigers, there are 50 reserve forests in this country. Out of these 50, Karnataka is home to five tiger reserves.

 

Over the past two months, 10 big cats have died in this state. One of the leading causes of those tigers’ deaths are the installed by people living in the reserves to catch wild boars. These incidents happened soon after the state government allowed the hunting of boars.Now, since the traps are killing big animals, the government has decided to increase the from ₹10 lakh to ₹15 lakh to encourage residents living inside protected areas to move out. 

 

This seems like a sensible and a workable move by the government. But what about the indigenous people and their identity - which is attached to their land? Why do conservation efforts require sacrifices by tribal populations and why are urban educated experts and activists apathetic towards these people?

 

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For the indigenous population, it is not just a piece of land, but a source of livelihood, a way of life and an ancestral identity which they are forced to abandon by the authorities.

 

But, does forcing out the tribal population help in the conservation of tigers? 

 

In the Achanakmar tiger reserve in Chhattisgarh, tribal villages were despite no threat to the tiger population. In fact, according to a report, the tiger from 12 in 2011 to 28 in 2015.

 

Also, in BRT Tiger Reserve of Karnataka, the population of tigers increased from 35 to 68 between 2010 and 2014 in the presence of the indigenous people. 

 

Indigenous people are not a threat to the environment or wildlife. As a matter of fact, biodiverse regions on earth happens to be a home of the tribal and indigenous population. Recognising the same, the central government in 2006 enacted the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 also called the Forest Rights Act (FRA).

 

This law protects the rights of the forest-dwelling tribes as well as other traditional residents to reside and cultivate on the lands that belong to them from three generations.

 

However, there was polarised view regarding this act, and its implementation became a separate issue to the central government. The implementation was largely dependent on the district administrations - adding further complications to the act. Though it was an important enactment, political scepticism and procedural difficulties led to no major achievement in tribal rights. 

 

In early 2016, the Supreme Court, in a , secured the rights of the forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes in Tamil Nadu - making it obvious that the Forest Rights Act (FRA) should be implemented and indigenous people should not be moved out in the name of conservation efforts. 

 

In view of all this, the need is to create 'man and nature' alliances, and not to see it as a conflict that can only be resolved by forcing out one or the other from a certain territory.