Where to go?

Guwahati, Sept. 15: The Namdapha tiger reserve authorities need to relocate the Lisu tribals living in the core area of the park for wildlife conservation, but find themselves impeded by the twin problems of where and how to move them out.

The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 as well as the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, require that people staying in core areas be resettled for providing inviolate spaces to tigers/wild animals.

An official of Namdapha tiger reserve said there are 84 families which have been staying in the core area for more than a decade now and the authorities are hunting for a place where the Lisu tribals can live harmoniously.

“There is a 74 acre plot of land near Miao town and we are discussing the modalities with the district authorities,” he said.

However, the problem is that one cannot force these people to go out of the forest as it would complicate the situation further, he added. This is because the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, does not allow people to stay in the core area, but gives those who have been staying in the forest before 2005 the right to settle in other areas, making it difficult to move them out.

The Lisus migrated across the Patkai range from Myanmar into the present day Vijaynagar area in the early part of the last century (1930s-40s), settling in several locations along the Noa-Dihing river. The border between India and Myanmar had not been demarcated then, and the area was no man’s land with dense forests and rugged terrain.

If the Lisus agree to move, there are two models under the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to chose from — pay them direct cash or set up a model village for them. The authorities are yet to decide which model to offer.

An expert team constituted by the NTCA visited Namdapha last week and discussed the steps needed to boost the tiger population in the reserve.

The team was sent by the NTCA after the reserve was graded as poor on the basis of its tiger density. According to the 2006 census, the 1,985-square-km Namdapha reserve has only 14 tigers.

Experts say the minimum population of tigresses in breeding age, which are needed to maintain a viable population of 80-100 tigers (in and around core), require an inviolate space of 800-1,000 square km.

Encroachment by Lisus and militancy have been cited as some of the main problems in Namdapha. Inadequate staff has also hit the reserve. It has only 32 field staff, including a few women on protection duty. The tiger, being an “umbrella species”, will also ensure a viable population of other wild animals (co-predators, prey) and forest, thereby ensuring the ecological viability of the entire area/habitat.