B K SINGH & TEJUS R S:
Karnataka CM’s proposal for granting grazing permits in forests and gun licenses to nomadic shepherds is totally absurd.
In the past, very big chunk of forest areas has been deforested and granted for rehabilitation of evacuees from irrigation, power and mining projects. Forest areas have also been granted to farmers for habitation and cultivation.
Besides the legal diversion, forest lands have also been occupied and encroached by local communities illegally. They have cut and burned the tree growth so as to start cultivation, rearing of livestock including sheep and goats.
LIVESTOCK INSIDE SANCTUARIES
Eviction of encroachments by the authorities have been an eyewash and even if they were temporarily removed, they have returned to reoccupy. The pockets of diversion are spread across the length and breadth of the country. So, this has left no forest patch without human and livestock population in the vicinity of the forests.
Everywhere, forests are subjected to anthropogenic pressures.
Human activities like removal of wood and forest produce, livestock grazing has been quite rampant especially during the last 50 years. Goats, sheep and livestock have potential to nip the bud of the growing seedlings and saplings in the forests.
GRAZERS SETTING FIRE TO FORESTS
Further, the grazers also set fire in the forests for a variety of reasons like making way for easy movement in the forests, regeneration of more palatable grasses and effortless removal of minor forest produces.
Such human activities in the forests have compromised the self-regenerating capacity of our forests. In large number of forest patches, we find that the young regeneration of seedlings and saplings are missing leading to denudation and large-scale degradation.
DENUDED HILL FORESTS
With the anthropogenic pressure increasing day by day, the degradation of forests appears to be inevitable. Under the circumstances, if nomadic shepherds are permitted to take their herds of sheep and livestock to the forests legally, then degradation would be speeded up and humanity will have to face serious consequences.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s proposal for grant of gun license to shepherds will open another dimension to the already existing problem of poaching and hunting. All shepherds cannot be expected to be law abiding citizens.
KILLING OF WILD BOARS, A COMMON OCCURRENCE
Even if a small proportion is lured by regular poachers, the damage to wildlife would be extreme. Incidents of hunting and poaching will rise and threaten the very existence of wildlife and forests. Further the existing law prohibits carrying firearms inside a notified forests and Protected Areas.
Siddaramaiah’s Directive completely suffers from administrative, legal and technical infirmities.
CATTLE GRAZING IN A BUFFER ZONE
Such a directive by the head of the government will definitely have a tremendous impact on the law enforcement agencies, and the whole process of conservation would derail without a second thought. This proposal of the Chief Minister would violate various laws and leave a long-standing impact on society and conservation as a whole.
Scientific studies have shown that grazing inside forests leads to wildlife diseases and habitat degradation. We are already suffering various threats to forests and wildlife, and granting full access to grazing would be a horror show.
Presently, as per the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, grazing is permitted only in Sanctuaries; in fact, the Wildlife Warden has to decide on the extent of grazing; in National Parks, it is strictly prohibited; no grazing is allowed. This very provision would be violated.
GRAZING PROHIBITED IN NATIONAL PARKS
Carrying guns is a violation of the Wildlife Protection Act and as well the Indian Arms Act. The Wildlife Protection Act mentions that no person shall carry a weapon inside a forest. Granting gun licenses to shepherds would violate this as well.
In a democracy like ours, trust has to be empowered in the law enforcement agencies rather than taking the law into their own hands. In a parallel application of the same argument, cities like Bengaluru have seen a rapid rise in violent crimes. Can the same logic of granting gun licenses be applied here as well?
WILDLIFE CONSERVATION – NEED OF THE HOUR
Today, we are heading towards a tunnel where the light at the end is bleak in terms of conservation, and we must ensure that protection is at its best for our own survival.
A survey has to be done on the availability of the Gomala lands and other lands suitable for sheep grazing, and forest land shouldn’t be touched, as it will multiply the human-wildlife conflict.