The other surprise in the railway budget is a new line that Mamata Banerjee wished in the heart of Buxa Tiger Reserve
DEEP INSIDE the core of Buxa Tiger Reserve in north Bengal and at the heart of a vast forest landscape that includes Bhutan’s Phipsu wildlife sanctuary is the settlement of Jayanti. Set up during the Raj to facilitate mining, this was a busy railway station transporting dolomite and limestone till the mid-1980s before conservation became the priority.

The urban greens demand that the rural poor live in conflict even where it does not help conservation
THE ONLY potentially dangerous wildlife that still survives in our cities is the occasional snake, largely because it is difficult to spot. Whenever one is found, it is either killed or rescued (read dumped outside the city limits). Anything bigger stands no chance at all. Intruding leopards trigger lynch mobs. Straying elephants face gunshots or are violently chased away.

Foraging wild animals in cropland are threatening livelihoods, turning the farmer against conservation efforts. THE DAMAGE to the national economy due to crop depredation by wild animals has never been computed. But for lakhs of farmers around India’s many protected forests, it is the biggest challenge to livelihood. In Maharashtra alone, 17,725 cases of crop damage, a 300 percent jump since the previous year, were registered between April 2010 and February 2011.

Without course correction, the village relocation drive may not secure our best tiger forests
Jay Mazoomdaar

The tiger has become the latest expression of political correctness. Look around: schoolchildren on roads, national icons on screens and big brands in campaign mode. The government has pumped in additional funds. Conservation NGOs are mushrooming in all corners of India. Green blogging is catching on like wildfire.

Flying in tigers to Sariska was not half as difficult as securing their future will be It was Sariska