Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve - Equitable Tourism Options

livelihood and have been absorbed as cheap and exploitable daily wage
labour in the nearby coffee plantations. Some of them are employed by the
Forest Department for the upkeep of the Park. However this employment is
seasonal.
Genesis of conflicts: the declaration of National Park
Two decades ago non-adivasis had commenced encroachment and have
managed to get title deeds for about 250 acres. The outrightly colonial
Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 provides for the extinguishing of all rights of
local inhabitants in National Park, in effect prohibiting habitation itself with
the resultant eviction. Since 1963, the Adivasis living in the core area have
been systematically pushed to the fringes. In the 1970s about 900 families
and in the 1980s about 320 families from various villages have been pushed
out to locations ranging from 1 km to 12 kms. Without any compensation,
they have been reduced to living in ghettos, of which some are government
sponsored, and restricted from their ancestral lands. Before 1972, the
people were exploited and were forced to become labourers for the Forest
Dept. Since 1972, around 6000 people have been pushed out and the
remaining are being seen as encroachers. They have become labourers in
estates. Their lands have forcibly been prevented from cultivation and
instead planted with teak, bamboo and eucalyptus. Trenches have been dug
up by officials cutting across their fields and paths, constantly harassed for
utilising forest resources for meeting their basic needs, denied of
development programmes, etc resulting in hunger deaths and malnutrition.
They are also blamed for death of wildlife, constant destruction of the
protective fences for their crops, planned trampling of cultivated crops by
domesticated elephants. The adivasis, especially the women, have had to
face a number of atrocities by the forest officials. They have been molested,
harassed, beaten and locked up in the name of forest offences.
Genesis of conflicts: India Eco-Development Project
India signed the Biodiversity Convention at Rio in 1993. As part of the
convention the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) was set up. India's
biological resources are considered 'economically' important both globally
and nationally by the World Bank.The importance attached to these natural
resources has prompted the World Bank to aid a Rs. 294.9 crore project. The
Eco-development project in seven 'protected areas' i.e. sanctuaries and
national parks, from all over India was to commence in January 1997
31 Nililgiris : F IJI/ing Glory