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Species At Stake

  • 30/10/1998

India is rich in biodiversity which, if used properly, could fill the country's coffers with pounds and dollars. It could also alleviate the poverty and suffering of the local people who have the knowledge and access to these resources. Sadly, the laws governing biodiversity exclude their participation. In the process, someone else strikes a bargain with these people: the smugglers. And for a paltry sum, they extract the biological materials with which they go on to make millions. Scores of illegal operators collect medicinal herbs, for instance, through a vast network of collectors bringing many valuable species to the brink of extinction.

Similarly, the illegal export of tiger bones from India to China is threatening the survival of the great cat. Tiger bones are used in traditional Chinese, Taiwanese and Korean medicine. In 1993, India and China signed a protocol aimed at ending poaching in India through trade controls. But poaching is on the rise. The skins are transported to Nepal and sold at phenomenal prices. And bones are often packaged as "cattle bone". In early 1990s, the price of a tiger - skin and bone - was over Rs 4 lakh. Indian laws do away with the participation of the people who cohabit with the tiger. Guards meant to protect the tiger tend to patrol the people who survive on the forests for their basic needs. As corruption enters their normally sedate life, they turn towards the poachers to get rid of the tiger which they perceive as the source of their problems.

Better still, why not allow these people to breed tigers in captivity? This will not only ensure an end to poaching, but also contribute towards the economic development of the poor. But that would mean getting rid of the laws and police-type systems that today protect the tiger. How can a government wedded to corrupt ways do that even if the tiger is disappearing?

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