Lifting of US sanctions may
boost wildlife conservation in India
NOTWITHSTANDING THE immense human tragedy witnessed in
the collapse of the WTC towers, it can be said that the
speedy global realignments that occurred in its
aftermath, were directly responsible for creating the
political expediency that steered US President Bush's
decision of lifting economic sanctions against both
India and Pakistan.
Speaking strictly from
the point of view of wildlife conservation in India, this news may be
cause for elation, since it broadens the prospect of increased US
funding to state forest departments and Indian NGO’s that are actively
involved in conservation projects related to the highly endangered
species like the Indian tiger (Panthera tigris), the one-horned rhino
(Rhinoceros unicornis) and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus).
It may be recalled that
the United States had taken the decision of imposing economic sanctions
on India immediately after the nuclear tests in May 1998. Amongst many
other financial assistance programmes that came under the purview of
these sanctions, was the termination or suspension of US assistance to
India for conservation projects related to the tiger and rhino under its
Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act of 1994.
This Act is specifically
aimed at providing financial resources for the conservation programs of
various nations whose activities affect global rhinoceros and tiger
populations. It was promulgated by the US Government in view of the fact
that rhino and tiger populations throughout the world were under extreme
threat of extinction, despite their being listed on Appendix I of the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna
and Flora (CITES).
Constituted under this
Act, the purpose of the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Fund is to
augment the rhinoceros and tiger conservation by providing financial
assistance to projects that are primarily aimed at habitat / ecosystem
management, protected area / reserve management, enforcement of wildlife
law, development of forensic skills, and achievement of sustainable
development in buffer zones of tiger / rhinoceros habitats.
Considering that India
still has a fair share of the population of both these species in its
national parks and tiger reserves, US assistance was being provided to a
number of state forest departments and other wildlife conservation
agencies in the form of grants routed through the federal US Fish &
Wildlife Service.
But, as a result of these
sanctions coming into affect, financial assistance to India under the
Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Fund did suffer a temporary setback.
Funding of ongoing projects had to be put on hold, while new project
proposals submitted to the US Fish and Wildlife Service were stalled
during the period during which the sanctions were in place.
Thankfully however, this
period of uncertainty did not last long. In October 1999, an Amendment
passed by the US Senate provided waiver authority to President Clinton
to suspend some of the sanctions against both India and Pakistan. Using
the powers vested in him through this Amendment, President Clinton
indefinitely waived a number of economic sanctions against both
countries, but what was heartening from the point of view of wildlife
conservation in India, was the fact that it also included the
restoration of financial assistance to the Rhinoceros and Tiger
Conservation Fund, as well as to the Asian Elephant Conservation Fund.
During the past five
years, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has been instrumental in
providing financial assistance to 19 projects involving tiger and rhino
conservation in India. Additionally, it has also invited project
proposals of up to 30,000 dollars each, to be funded during the current
fiscal year. This is probably just the kind of opportunity required by
the state forest departments and conservation NGO’s to take advantage of
this offer and prepare project proposals that augment the financial
resources for their on-going conservation activities in various
protected areas across the country
