India intends to open up more areas for eco-tourism activities for supporting livelihood of local stakeholders

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Madhya Pradesh (MP), the largest Indian State is putting in immense efforts to promote eco-tourism in the State. The Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Alok Kumar has said that the effort of the forest department is to make more forest areas inviolate, introduce and populate both herbivores and carnivores in the forests and then open up more areas for eco-tourism activities in a controlled way to support the livelihood of the local stakeholders. 

The State of MP has recently started the promotion of new areas like Nauradehi for bird-watchers and wildlife enthusiasts. “Nauradehi is a big sanctuary and a very rich habitat. It is a mix of dense forest, shrubby areas and grasslands. It’s an ideal habitat for all types of carnivores and herbivores,” he said. He said that the priority of the government and the forest department is to relocate the revenue villages inside the forest to other areas by giving adequate compensation and then introducing all types of animals including tigers, cheetahs, etc.

Nauradehi is a corridor to the Panna Tiger Reserve and is indirectly connected to the Satpura Tiger Reserve. Due to its connectivity with the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve and the Rani Durgavati Wildlife Sanctuary, it has become home to a variety of rare birds. The Nauradehi Sanctuary is turning out to be an ideal habitat for these birds.

“We have been successful in making our tiger reserves inviolate. We don’t face any problems there anymore. Now our focus is on other parks and wildlife sanctuaries,” Kumar said.

He pointed out that the villagers have started willingly coming forward to move out of the core areas looking for better infrastructure and living conditions. He said that the primary responsibility of the forest department is the conservation and protection of the wildlife and the overall wildlife management. Although the tiger is the most important species for tourism, and tourists throng the parks for tiger sightings, for the forest department, the tiger is just another endangered species like any other endangered animal.