A ban on tourism in India’s tiger reserves has been lifted with new guidelines on tiger conservation allowing "regulated low impact tourism" in the core and critical tiger habitat.
NEW DELHI- India’s Supreme Court ruled nearly three months ago that tourists were no longer allowed to enter the core parts of more than 40 tiger sanctuaries.
In what is a highly contentious issue, the restrictions were implemented in response to allegations that some Indian states had permitted the construction of hotels and shops inside the reserves.
The ban was criticised by conservation groups who feared that the lack of tourists would put the animals at greater risk from loggers and poachers.
The court has now required each reserve to submit a conservation plan within six months that adheres to the guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority. These suggest that tourism should be limited to 20 per cent of the critical areas of the reserves and that no new infrastructure for tourism be developed in and around the reserves.
Estimations rank the number of tigers in the world at around 3,200 living in the wild, with India home to more than half of them.
TOFT, an organisation dedicated to responsible nature tourism, welcomed the lifting of the ban. Vishal Singh, India Director, said: “The ban ensured the airing of a range of opinions and produced some ecotourism guidelines to stop poor tourism, but it has also badly affected hundreds of thousands of local livelihoods, and legitimate businesses, both directly or indirectly.”
Photo caption: A Bengal Tiger resting, at Bandhavgarh National Park, India.
He added: “It’s now time to ensure that revenues from park fees start flowing back into conservation and communities again, that livelihoods are restored, and that legitimate businesses are allowed to continue to show India’s very best natural heritage to its citizens.”
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
