Central fund cut a concern for forest projects

BANGALORE, 18/10/2009: Tiger at Bandipur National Park, one of India's best known wildlife sanctuaries, and is an important Project Tiger reserve, located in the Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka in south India, and is contiguous with the Mudumalai National Park in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu, the Wynad Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala, and the Nagarhole National Park to the northwest. It is home to around seventy tigers and over three thousand Asian elephants (as per the 1997 census [1]), along with leopards, dholes, gaur and sloth bears. Bandipur is part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. The Western Ghats, Nilgiri Sub-Cluster (6,000+ km²), including all of Bandipur National Park, is under consideration by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee for selection as a World Heritage Site. Photo: K. Murali Kumar

How does one protect degraded forests and the fragile tiger population with dwindling change in the wallet?

This is the question that is confronting the Forest Department, whose major Central-sponsored schemes are seeing a significant cut this year.

Take for instance the much vaunted Project Tiger, which seeks to conserve the environs housing 406 enumerated big cats in the State. Compared to 2014, four reserves have seen a cumulative dip of nearly 20 per cent in the recent allocations by National Tiger Conservation Authority. The budget for Bandipur Tiger Reserve has not yet come, but officials expect it to be similarly cut.

Forest officials said the first hints of deficient resources were seen in the Union Government budget in February, when allocation for the nation-wide Project Tiger was reduced by 15 per cent to Rs. 136.46 crore.

“We are also concerned with the reduction. We will seek for the restoration of funds,” said Srinivasulu K., Chief Conservator of Forests of Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve, which has seen a 30 per cent reduction in funds.

While money for Project Elephant has not been allocated, officials said the Union Ministry has asked them to “scale down” the proposals sent.

Afforestation

The worst hit — and probably the one with immediate repercussions — is the Central scheme for afforestation. Of nearly Rs. 36 crore requested for projects under the National Bamboo Mission and National afforestation Project, just Rs. 10 crore has been granted. This is a reduction of more than 70 per cent as compared to allocations of previous financial year.

“This will not even cover the minimum cost needed to maintain and upgrade plantations created in the past,” said a senior official. Over 46,000 hectares of bamboo and forest plantations created under the schemes require maintenance.

The low funds will see the plans to create more than 8,200 acres of fresh plantations being put in limbo, while the Rs. 2.50-crore worth of advance work — that is, readying land for plantation by levelling land and digging of pits — is in jeopardy, said officials.