If a disagreement on a mere choice of
words can bring a summit of nations to naught - as happened recently
with India and Pakistan at Agra - it would hardly come as a
surprise that a difference of opinion, an altercation, or maybe plain
mutual dislike between the heads of two leading Indian conservation
NGO’s should be enough to jeopardize the very future of the Indian
tiger, which ostensibly is so pivotal to the fulfillment of the avowed
objectives that these NGO’s stand for. According to a recent media
report, an "ugly spat" between the CEO of WWF-India and the Director of
Traffic-India has prompted the parent body WWF-International, to put its
Tiger Conservation Programme (TCP) on hold for the moment, and freeze
all its conservation related funds to WWF-India. This, if effected for
any measure of time, would mean that all conservation activities in
India which are presently being funded by the WWF would come to an
abrupt standstill, thereby causing the tiger to become the direct
casualty.
The need for delving into the reasons
and intricacies that may have been responsible for bringing the
concerned NGO’s to such a head, hardly seems to be of any importance
since it is not likely that they would go much beyond an ego or
personality clash. However, the ramifications and the cascading effect
this would have on the plight of the Indian tiger are more critical, and
it would be more worthwhile to look at conservation areas that are
likely to suffer a negative impact due to this stringent action by WWF.
The extent of the reach and benefits
of the Tiger Conservation Programme to the Indian conservation effort
can be gauged by the fact that it is possibly the largest funded
campaign by an NGO in India which is aimed at conserving an endangered
species. It does this by contributing substantially towards augmenting
and strengthening the management of tiger reserves in cooperation with
the central government and the state governments in which these reserves
are located. The material help is provided in the form of much-needed
equipment like communication sets, vehicles, boats etc, while direct
financial support is also extended to park managements in cases where
expedient funds are required.
It also contributes, directly or
indirectly, to counter illegal trade in tiger parts through the creation
of a network of informers in sensitive areas and passing on this
information to enforcement agencies for them to make seizures. Research
projects and studies are funded for assessment and monitoring of tiger
habitats, and funding schemes are instituted in tiger reserve areas with
the intention of reducing human-tiger conflict through payment of
compensation for cattle-killing by tigers. TCP also funds and arranges
legal support to defend field personnel who are taken to court for their
tiger conservation work, and further catalyses the motivation of
committed field personnel by instituting and distributing awards for
special contributions made by them in the field of tiger conservation.
It goes without saying that these activities, funded out of the TCP, go
a long way in indirectly fulfilling the budgetary shortfalls which park
managements are constantly faced with due to the paucity of finances at
the disposal of state governments.
On the other hand, Traffic (Trade
Records Analysis of Flora and Fauna in Commerce) is a joint programme of
Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) and International Union for the
Conservation of Nature (IUCN), operating through its various country
offices throughout the world. In our country, Traffic-India has been
acting as the wildlife trade monitoring arm of WWF-India, with the broad
goal of curbing illegal wildlife trade dealing in animal and plant
derivatives. It does this through wildlife trade studies, field
investigations in support of enforcement agencies, creation of a
database relevant to wildlife trade in India, and arranging of training
for the country’s enforcement agencies for combating wildlife crimes.
Therefore, a properly dove-tailed
execution of their programmes and schemes makes both WWF-India and
Traffic-India essential to the long-term survival of the Indian tiger.
But in this worst-case scenario, if the are to come to loggerheads and
become locked in adversarial combat due to the falling out of
individuals who have been placed at the helm to provide direction and
leadership to these organizations, it would be the worst comment on
their commitment and resolve to save the tiger.
It can surely be conceded that with
the huge amount of funds being brought into the country from
international donors, tiger conservation in India has become big
business. It is not surprising then, that these donor agencies sometimes
have to organize their activities on corporate principles, including the
not so healthy ones like competition and survival. But if they pause to
consider the adverse impact this tends to have on the tiger in the
field, they should be prepared to take some of the blame for the steady
loss of tiger numbers in India, which is painfully highlighted by the
increasing frequency of seizures of tiger skins and bones from all
across the country. A blame that is today being conveniently passed off
entirely on to the hapless state forest departments.
