After stepping up cross border efforts on big cat conservation with Nepal, it is now time for the country to coordinate management along the State boundaries for big cat protection. National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), in its latest report, has stated that the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR), spanning an area of 5,520 sq kms across the tiger reserves in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, must be managed with coordinated efforts of three States.
According to the report, the Nagarahole-Bandipur-Mudumalai-Wayanad landscape supports one of world’s most prolific tiger population having a count of above 400. Hence, these southern States will need to work in tandem for better protection of big cats. The regional office of NTCA in Bengaluru will be strengthened to coordinate the conservation strategies of the tigers between three States.
According to G.S. Prabhu, chief wildlife warden of Karnataka, “coordination between the southern states is already in place and in the coming days we will have more frequent exchanges of expertise and intelligence. The wildlife head of Kerala is presently touring the wildlife areas in Karnataka. Similarly, we have visits from officials in Tamil Nadu”, he said.
Praveen Bhargav, Former member of National Board For Wildlife (NBWl) appreciating the proposed move said, apart from Nagarahole-Bandipur-Mudumalai-Wayanad reserves, this high priority landscape also includes Biligiri Rangana Temple sanctuary, Bramhagiri and Cauvery in Karnataka; Sathyamangalam and Mudumalai in Tamil Nadu spread across three states in Southern India.
Hence, it is important for all three states to co-ordinate meaningfully and ensure that individual tiger conservation plans of reserves with common boundaries are compatible for managing tiger populations. For tigers, it is the availability of prey base and viable habitat that counts”, he added. However, even as NTCA stressed on coordinated approach of the big cat conservation in the three states, a recent event related to such coordinated approach have raised eyebrows
NBR, which is country’s first biosphere reserve completed its silver jubilee existence following its declaration of a biosphere reserve on September 1, 1986. According to sources, a proposal for a joint celebration of this historical event by the three State Governments had also been sent to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, but no funds has been released so far. “They had also chalked out a joint action plan to document and produce short films on the Biodiversity of the NBR, but the proposal continues to hang in balance”, said the sources.