The process of converting Rajaji national park into a tiger reserve might be nearing completion as the Uttarakhand Chief Wildlife Warden has recently submitted the proposal for the same to the State Government.
The State Government now has to issue the final notification for turning Rajaji into a tiger reserve, Chief Wildlife Warden SS Sharma told The Pioneer. The Rajaji national park contains a rich wildlife ranging from pangolins, leopards, striped hyaenas, various deer species, avian fauna and elephant to tigers.
During the ongoing tiger census exercise, at least six tigers were captured on camera traps. According to Sharma, in the proposal submitted to the State Government, the proposed buffer zone for the planned tiger reserve has been decreased from 300 square kilometres to 255 square kilometres while about 819 square kilometres has been marked as the core area.
"Now the State Government will issue the final notification after approving the final proposal for turning Rajaji into a tiger reserve. Converting the national park into a tiger reserve will make us eligible to receive funds from the National Tiger Conservation Authority for Rajaji which along with other measures will in turn boost the protection of tigers in particular and wildlife in general," he said.
It is worth mentioning here that the expert committee formed to draft the final proposal submitted by the Chief Wildlife Warden to the Government, had held public hearings for people living in the areas proposed to be included in the buffer zone of the planned tiger reserve.
Parts of reserve forest areas in Shyampur, laldhang and Kotdwar were proposed to be included in the buffer zone. During the public hearings, though some people had no objection to the formation of the buffer zone, some of them opposed it on the grounds that mining, land transfer and other activities would be restricted in the buffer zone.
They were informed that such activities are already prohibited in the reserve forest areas so making it the buffer zone of the tiger reserve would make no difference. According to department officials, making Rajaji a tiger reserve and the resulting creation of the buffer zone would help facilitate freer movement of wildlife especially elephants and tigers between Rajaji and Corbett tiger reserve as the Van Gujjars settled in these areas would be relocated.
This in turn would help mitigate the human wildlife conflict being faced by people in the area with elephants and other wild animals frequently damaging farms and property.