Guwahati: None of the Range Officers stays inside a tiger reserve in the Northeast.
Guess where?
At Namdapha Tiger Reserve ( NTR) in Arunachal Pradesh, none of the Range Officers stays inside the NTR area, and the responsibility of on-the-ground protection is largely delegated to the contingency staff, who are about 150 in number, out of which 50 are part of the tiger protection force.
This has been revealed in the Management Effectiveness Evaluation Report (MEE) of the Namdapha Tiger Reserve. Management Effectiveness Evaluation of sites is one important way of ensuring the investment of time and effort in establishing and managing protected areas in delivering the benefits that society seeks.
“This sensitive landscape of 1985 sq km with unique biodiversity, is managed by three ranges with a very meagre staff. The infrastructure for protection, like roads, patrolling paths, anti-poaching camps and motorcycles is very poor. More than half of NTR is inaccessible to the management in the light of many problems, including approach issues, difficult terrain, insurgency and encroachment issues,” the report says.
Out of the three ranges in NTR, only two ranges have field camps. The third range, which had only one camp, was burnt on 14 November 2022. The habitation near the Myanmar border is known as Vijay Nagar, and it is connected by the Miao–Vijay Nagar road, which has been opened for traffic this year only, i.e., in 2022.
There are no anti-poaching/protection camps on the Vijay Nagar side of NTR, and this road, on the stretch from 31st Mile to 77th Mile, lie the eight enclaved villages, which make this area very sensitive from the point of view of protection. Significant forests of NTR lying beyond this stretch also require a continuous vigil” the report says.
There is a large number of vacancies among the frontline staff, and most of the present staff are aged too and will retire soon.
The tiger reserve is hit hard by encroachment issues due to the increasing populations of the Lisus and other tribes. The Lisus are expanding their areas under cultivation and cardamom has a ready market as a cash crop. As of now, it is reported that there are eight Lisu villages with 311 families occupying the critical tiger habitat.
The MEE visited Namdapha in December last year and expressed concern regarding the presence of two major faunal species, i.e., tiger and elephant.
“Both species have not been camera trapped or seen nor indirect evidence of their presence recorded within NTR. Three tigers were last camera trapped in 2015 and AITE 2018 concludes that 11 tigers are present in NTR on the basis of scat analysis. 24 scat samples have been sent to WII, Dehradun, between January and March 2022 which were collected as part of AITE 2021, for which the report is yet to be received by the NTR management,” the report said.
The presence of elephants of late has not been reported from within NTR. “It is apprehended that probably the elephant population has adversely been impacted by hunting by tribes which might have found a ready market in the neighbouring countries,” the report said.
The MEE team suggested considering the difficult terrain, and the inaccessibility of many areas in NTR, it is also suggested that helicopter services be provided for the NTR management.
“Long endurance drones, suitable to the terrain, may immediately be made available to both Namdapha and Kamlang tiger reserves, which are part of the Namdapha–Kamlang Landscape,” the team said in its report.
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To address the area’s connectivity issues, there is a need to establish networks of wireless/radio transmitters and mobile towers by NTR and mobile service providers, respectively.
“This will not only connect the population in Vijaynagar, Gandhigram with Miao but would also provide connectivity to the NTR staff and enable them to use M-STrIPES in further strengthening the protection/conservation efforts,” the report said.
On the protection issues, the state government may study the orders issued by the Government of Assam for Kaziranga Tiger Reserve related to providing arms, including issuing special orders for their use by the forest staff, and the creation of the Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF), and arrive at its applicability in NTR, which appears to be in great danger because of encroachment and poaching issues and its proximity to the international border, coupled with the difficult terrain and inaccessibility.
Also read: Govt sanctions 91 roads, 30 bridges for rural Arunachal Pradesh