A few days back, Union Women Child Development Minister Menaka Gandhi gave an interview to media on the issue of mass killing of wild animals in different States declaring them as vermin.
Vermin means parasitic animals harmful to society. These animals damage the crops of crop growers. Hence, these animals are considered harmful and killed under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. Section 62 of the Act empowers the Central Government to declare certain wild animals to be vermin. The Central Government may by notification declare any wild animal, other than those specified in Schedule 1 and Part II of Schedule II as harmful vermin. Under the provisions of this Act, the Nilagai in Bihar and wild pig in Uttarakhand are known to be declared as vermin and are allowed to be killed. But declaring elephants in West Bengal and peafowl in Goa as vermin is uncalled-for.
When the Indian elephants come under the group of mammals and under Part – I of Schedule I, the peafowl or the Mayur comes under part-II of schedule I. Hence, these species cannot be asked to be killed under any circumstances. The attempt either of the Government of West Bengal or Goa is not lawfully justified.
If we deeply and truthfully go into the matter, it will be seen that the human
beings are responsible for creation of such forceful situations. The human beings damage and destroy the habitats of other animals for their own interests and for our smooth livings. The ambitious livings of man are responsible for creation of such situations.
Wildlife management in natural state of environment is a very difficult task. Both habitats and habitats of each individual species of animals and birds are to be considered separately and distinctively. The biodiversity of any land depends on the climatic conditions of such land.
When the natural climatic situations of our tropical land are frequently tampered by man and not made congenial for any other animals including man, the man-animal conflict is inevitable. We have warranted such
situations. When the situations go uncontrolled, we declare the animals as vermin or harmful species.
Union Minister Menaka Gandhi looks vexed on the roles of State Forest Departments. When asked what is the feasible solution to man-animal conflict, she said ,“We need to live with them: the co-existence of man and animal world is absolutely necessary, and without animal world the man cannot survive alone.”
The man should learn how co-exist with animals and plants. The man should find out the solutions when he himself created the problems for his own selfish greed.
Man has to stop setting forests on fire: It is absolutely true. Every year, especially during summer, our tropical forests are burnt twice or thrice, where our diversities of wildlife are burnt and sacrificed in the very knowledge of ours. The burning example is Dehradun forests of Uttarakhand State, which occurred in the last summer. Thousands of hectares of natural forests were burnt in the very presence of the Forest Department of that State. The forest fire should be stopped at any cost in every State of the Union.
The writer is a retired forest officer. The writer appreciates the remarks of Minister Gandhi that the State Forest Department should not act upon on the whims and caprices of political people. They have to take actions independently.
Gandhi said our fence is eating the grass which means, when the State Forest Department itself acts as a fence to protect and conserve the biodiversities of the State, how such thoughtless recommendations from the State forest departments were
made to their State Governments for killing such innocent animals.
The State Forest Department should perform the duties of protection and conservation of biodiversities of the respective State as their primary duties. Gandhi wants the forest service to be made a specialised subject and to train the people. This means the communities of the villages should be trained in forestry and to specialise on the subject for conservation and protection of forests and forest resources in grassroots levels.
Without community participation the open treasury like forests sources of the States cannot be managed in each village or in every Panchayat. The forest resources are protected and conserved only for the interests of the people of that State alone. The resources should be managed by the respective people of the village communities. Probably the people means, the village communities, what Gandhi means. This is absolutely a good sense of forest management and true ethnic systems of forest conservation. She says that the forest managements should be taught in colleges, which means, forestry as a subject should not be confined to a specified department of the State Government and Union Government.
This means sound knowledge on forestry should be commonly used by the people of the communities. She emphatically asserted that the people of this country should know the proper scientific management of our cultural resources like bio-aesthetic properties of the Union.
Here the whole argument was that the social justice should not be confined to human beings alone, it should be extended to animal world.
The animals are the part of our social systems. They should get justice adequately.
It is said that the State Government of Odisha wants to engage fire watchers to prevent fire in the forests of the State and form 2,500 Vana Surkhya Samitees to ensure people’ participation in forest conservation throughout the State. If the works are honestly undertaken with proper planning, it will yield wonderful fruits.
The eco-friendly species, especially the fruit and food bearing trees, should be given primary importance when tree plantations are carried out. The forest fire causes enormous damages to the forest wealth including tree plantations, which should be dealt with by community participations.
(The writer is a former senior forest officer and an environmentalist. Tel no 9937460649)