Regulate wildlife tourism

Anjana Gosain, Chief Functionary Officer, Tiger Trust, claims that tourism in wildlife parks needs to be regulated and should follow eco-friendly guidelines.

Tiger Trust is a non-profit organisation, which works against the poaching of tigers and trains the staff and visitors to increase awareness for successful prosecution of offences. Anjana Gosain, Chief Functionary Officer, Tiger Trust, is a full-time lawyer and has been involved with the organisation since 1989. “These trainings are being carried out since the last 16 years and we do it all over the country. For the last seven years, we have been working in Assam and Rajasthan. We not only train the staff, but also review the cases. The training is intense and has a two day module, which consists of theory as well. We are assisted by volunteers who are professional people. We also do a lot of work with the US government,” she says. As a latest initiative, Tiger Trust held a meeting in Jaipur and discussed the cases from all the tiger areas in Rajasthan. Gosain reveals that they do a lot of work with students as well. “We are affiliated with several universities in the US, and our major partner is Clemson University. Their students come once a year and we take them around to the tiger reserves. There are several schools in Delhi which are associated with us. We educate them about the importance of not only the tigers, but also general conservation, environment, cleanliness, and biodiversity. We also do medical camps for the forest staff and do many other activities like training for nature guides. I do a lot of public interest litigations against these issues,” she says. She revealed that they had got schools from Delhi and Rajasthan to combine efforts for conducting awareness programmes in Ranthambore. Gosain calls for a comprehensive view on the mushrooming of wildlife resorts in these areas. “Either the government shouldn’t allow any resort, or shouldn’t put a ban when the properties are already built and ready to open. The policies need to be clear and we need a better vision and planning. Also, the resorts that open in these areas should be eco-friendly, without television, swimming pool or gyms. Guests should be encouraged to enjoy the natural surroundings. In addition, there is a need to make these wildlife resorts affordable, allowing everybody to experience the wildlife up, close and personal,” asserts Gosain.