NEW DELHI: Even as debate around traditional animal sports like Jallikattu, bullock cart racing and cockfights continues, the National Wildlife Action Plan 2017-31 that will drive country's wildlife protection efforts for next 15 years has called for incorporating traditions, beliefs and cultural practices that helps in human-wildlife conflict resolution.
The plan by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change comes at a time when the Tamil Nadu government in January this year amended the Prevention of Cruelty Act of 1960 to allow Jallikattu. Earlier, the Supreme Court had banned the bull-taming sport.
Emphasizing to draw a comprehensive strategy to tackle human-wildlife conflict, the wildlife action plan calls to “consider and address human practices that promote conflict as well as incorporate traditions, beliefs and practices that allow for conflict resolution or enhancement of human-tolerance for wild animals”.
A committee headed by former cabinet secretary TSR Subramanian, which was formed by the environment ministry for reviewing green laws, in its report had batted for allowing cultural practices like Jallikattu. The ministry is yet to take a decision on the report.
This is the third National Wildlife Action Plan of India as first such plan was adopted in 1983. The second such 15-year-plan was adopted in 2002 and it finished in 2016.
The plan also asked authorities to establish a “practical and legally binding protocol on the subject of mercy killing and euthanasia of wild animals based on the advice of a committee of experts drawn from the wildlife and the veterinary sciences.”
The NWAP 2017-31 noted that there is an urgent need to define these terms – mercy killing and euthanasia - in the Indian context, identify procedures and implementing agencies.
With infrastructure development eating away critical wildlife habitat areas, the plan calls for preparing management plans for wildlife corridors and regulating land use change in the identified corridors.
“Secure corridors for large mammals. Elephant and tiger corridors across the country have been identified in several reports of the environment ministry and researchers. These corridors need to be demarcated on ground and ecologically compatible land use need to be ensured for these areas,” it said.
The plan also talks about setting up an independent National Environment Appraisal and Monitoring Authority (NEAMA) to bring about reforms in the review process and improve transparency pertaining to Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) of developmental projects in the country. NEAMA should also monitor the compliance of necessary mitigation measures.
Other areas of focus highlighted by the plan include developing a network for data collection for assessment of the impact of climate change on all ecosystems with respect to their ecological services and incorporate the findings in the Tiger Conservation Plans (TCPs) of TRs and Management Plans of PAs with adaptive or mitigation measures.
“Assessments of change in distribution of vegetation types and major species and functional processes such as phenology would also be helpful in conservation planning at species level and at times for assisting distribution in new and more suitable ranges,” it added.