GUWAHATI: The Tour Operators’ Association of Assam has said that the Supreme Court’s order banning tourism in core areas of tiger reserves would not affect tourism in Assam.

Addressing a press conference in Guwahati today, Tour Operators’ Association of Assam president Debojit Bora said, “The Supreme Court has clearly stated that tourism should be banned or regulated in core areas of tiger reserves. While this may have an effect on tourism in certain tiger habitats in the rest of the country, in Assam we need not be concerned because the jeep safari and the elephant safari routes in the national parks and tiger reserves of Assam have been well-defined.

The temporary halt to tourism in core zones of tiger reserves is a wake-up call to an industry that has grown rapidly and become disruptive in some places. Rather than view the Supreme Court’s interim order as a setback, tourism operators should see it as an opportunity to set things right. While there is no question that commercial tourism must be strictly regulated, a total ban on public access to wildlife reserves would be extremely harmful, as it will negatively impact conservation education, monitoring and other conservation activities by non-governmental organisations.

Sensible tourism has an important role to play in conservation, and if government and tourism stakeholders work together, it is possible to craft solutions that benefit local communities, nature lovers, tourism operators and, most importantly, wildlife itself.

Bhubaneshwar So many threats... and so much money to be made – the trade off is tragically tilted against the Indian tigers.

Coal mining for electricity generation is the biggest threat to India's tigers, a report by environmental activists Greenpeace warned, demanding a moratorium on clearances for new mines just days after massive blackouts highlighted power shortages. A hot-button issue in India, tiger conservation pits the need to preserve wildlife against the development needs of a country that witnessed the slowest economic growth in nine years in March and where hundreds of millions continue to live below poverty line.

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Whose right is it to stop visitors?

In an order that will have far reaching consequences, the Supreme Court imposed a blanket ban on tourism in the core areas of tiger reserves with immediate effect on July 24. The order is up for review within three weeks, but the stage has been set for a period of considerable turmoil in matters related to wildlife tourism, particularly that where the tiger is involved.

There has been wide coverage of the development in the print and electronic media and the virtual world too has come alive with opinions, claims, allegations and counter allegations.

The Supreme Court’s interim order banning tourism in core areas of tiger reserves has taken its toll on Pachmarhi, a picturesque hill station with its major attractions within the core area of Satp

The interim ban on tourism in core areas of tiger reserves has already started to tell on those who depend on tourists.

A strategic village, located in the core of the park, moved out

Men are finally making way for tigers in Rajasthan’s celebrated Ranthambhore National Park (RNP). With residents of yet another forest village located in the core moving out on Wednesday, the tigers proliferating in the park will now have more inviolate space, and surely more fun. The Ranthambhore watchers, and there are quite a few, vouchsafe that re-locating Mordoongri, situated in the strategic corridor between RNP and the Sawai Man Singh Sanctuary, should be considered a breakthrough.

Following the Supreme Court order, State wildlife authorities on Wednesday, banned tourism in the three tiger reserves of Mudumalai in Udhagamandalam, Anamalai near Pollachi, and Kalakkad – Mundanthurai in Tirunelveli district.

Officials in the forest headquarters said the field directors of the three tiger reserves have been asked to instruct the district forest officers concerned to stop allowing tourists till the apex court passes further judgement. Incidentally, the core tiger habitat in Mudumalai, which includes Theppakadu elephant camp, and Anamalai, where Top Slip is, are the core tourist spots thronged by several thousands of tourists every year.