On July 24, the Supreme Court of India, worried about the dire straits that tigers in wildlife parks are in, struck a blanket ban on tiger tourism, putting all tiger reserves in the country off-limits to visitors. The decision was taken based on long-standing concerns regarding the virtual non-implementation of wildlife laws and blatant flouting of regulations in the name of tourism. However, several stakeholders had opposed this move by the apex court. While many state governments had expressed concern about the impact of the ban on people, including tribals living in reserves who depend on tourism for their livelihood, wildlife protections groups had asserted that the ban was not the right solution, claiming that it would do more harm than good when it came to protecting tigers.

Last month, the central government filed an affidavit seeking permission to review its existing norms on tiger conservation and requesting that the court review the prohibition on tiger tourism. The court allowed the Centre to come up with new guidelines but the ban has stayed put. On Wednesday, September 26, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) a body under the Ministry of Environment and Forests submitted new proposed guidelines on tourism in and around tiger reserves and recommended that a maximum of 20 per cent of the core tiger habitat may be used for strictly regulated, low-impact tourist visits. The NCTA also said, “In case the current usage exceeds 20 per cent, the local area committee may decide on a timeframe for bringing [it] down. Such area may be demarcated as a tourism zone and there should be strict adherence to site-specific carrying capacity. Any core area in a tiger reserve, from which relocation has been carried out, will not be used for tourism infrastructure.”

The guidelines also proposed that permanent tourist facilities located inside core tiger habitat be phased out in a timely manner and that a synergy and collaboration amongst the Central government, relevant states, the forest dwellers, the local communities and the civil societies be achieved for successful implementation of the programme. The case is set to come up for hearing next week and the saga is sure to continue.

India is currently home to around 1,706 tigers in 41 tiger reserves spread across 19 states.