Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said that the government would bring in amendments to the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 to make it stringent and increase its penal provisions for wildlif

1,706 tigers today, up from 1,411 in 2007

Should the approximately 1,700 tigers left in India be treated as sacrosanct, not to be exploited by India’s tourism industry? Or, should they be looked at as valuable commodities, responsible for filling the coffers of the state? This is the firestorm of a debate that Ajay Dubey sparked off, when he, through a public interest litigation filed in the Madhya Pradesh High Court in September 2010, asked that tourism be banned in ‘core’ tiger areas — zones where tiger density is particularly high — in line with the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and its 2006 amendment.

The National Board for Wildlife (NBW), which is chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, will meet on Wednesday after a gap of more than two-and-a-half years to discuss a number of issues includin

RTI activist Ajay Dubey of Madhya Pradesh, who shot into prominence with his Supreme Court petition asking for better monitoring of tiger reserves, feels he was justified in having sought redressal from the highest court.

“Madhya Pradesh had 700 tigers in 2000 but their numbers are down to 257,” said Mr Dubey who runs an environmental protection group, Prayatna. “Thirty-five tigers were lost in Panna alone from 2000. Undoubtedly, they died at the hands of poachers but my question is why was the ministry of environment so lax in implementing the Wildlife Protection Act 1972?” he asked.

Jaipur: A day after the Supreme Court invited suggestions and objections for framing guidelines for conservation of tigers, Rajasthan on Thursday came up with its own guidelines, the first state to do so.

The guidelines, to be submitted to the court as an affidavit by Friday, seeks to promote tourism but disperses it over a wider area than just confine to the national park only. It also seeks to promote eco-tourism in lesser known areas, non-forest areas and even on private lands adjoining tiger reserves by developing them into alternative wildlife land use options. Currently tourism in the state has been confined to areas of government ownership and is managed solely by the forest department.

BAN extended, centre told to frame revised guidelines

New Delhi: With politicians and conservationists joining the chorus against complete ban on tourism in tiger reserves, the Supreme Court on Wednesday hinted at taking a relook at its interim order

The Supreme Court on Wednesday extended the prohibition on tiger tourism in 41 reserves till September 27 and gave the government another month to come up with amended guidelines to protect the depleting wild cat.

A bench headed by Justice A K Patnaik had imposed the ban last month taking cognizance of a public interest petition which had claimed the tiger population has come down to 1,200 from 13,000.

Following resistance to the ban on tourism in core areas of tiger reserves by several States, NGOs and interested parties, the Supreme Court on Wednesday permitted the Centre to review existing norms and come up with comprehensive guidelines on ‘Tiger Project’ and ‘sustainable tourism.’

A Bench of Justices A.K. Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar gave this permission after Attorney General G.E. Vahanvati drew the court’s attention to the objections received and the Centre’s intention to revisit the guidelines framed under the Wildlife (Protection) Act.