Bharatiya Prakriti Parishad

Introduction - Overview of Issues - Projects - Map of Bandhavgarh - Bandhavgarh Flora and Fauna Photographs - Village Photographs - Get Involved - Contact

Introduction

Bharatiya Prakriti Parishad (BPP) is an independent non-profit organization working in forest villages to improve living standards and decreasing dependence on forest resources in Bandhavgarh National Park and Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, India.

Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve is prime tiger habitat, with plentiful water, ample prey, and stunning topography. The park boasts over 500 species of plants, 45 species of mammals, 27 species of reptiles, including 16 species of snakes, over 299 species of birds, and 92 identified species of butterflies, with several more thought to exist. The area of the park consists of a 637 square kilometer core zone, surrounded by 514 square kilometers of buffer. A 67 square kilometer area in Tala Range, the former hunting ground of the maharaja, is open to tourism. In addition, the Panpatha Wildlife Sanctuary has recently been added to the park.

The park houses fourteen villages and is surrounded by another 73 villages, with an estimated human population of thirty thousand. The burden on the tiger reserve from human and cattle dependence on the resources is extreme. Grazing pressure and wood poaching leave their mark on even the most core areas of the protected area. Poaching of wildlife is a significant problem in the Bandhavgarh area, as highlighted by a few well-publicized seizures of tiger skins and bones in recent years. The abundance of spotted deer and sambar meat available in the nearby cities attests to the severity of the issue. Vigilant patrolling may deter some criminals, but fully controlling entry into an area bound by over seventy villages is unrealistic given the current resources and management of the reserve. Forest communities must be enlisted to truly protect the wildlife and forest.

The history of man in Bandhavgarh goes back thousands of years, and the forest is dotted with artifacts of these ancient communities. In recent years, however, population explosion and outside pressures have made the relationship a hostile one. The economic dependence on the forest resources has not been replaced by any other significant income source after the notification of the tiger reserve, leaving villagers with little alternative to illegal entry. The thriving of wild herbivore populations has also wreaked havoc on subsistence farms, with damage exceeding 75% in many bordering farms. Revenue from tourism rarely reaches past the main village of Tala, failing in its goal of alleviating the economic hardships suffered by villagers.

Rapid deforestation had already taken its toll on innumerable forested areas. The effects of this unchecked destruction are evident in the increasing droughts, lowered water tables, dearth of clean water, poor crop yields, and large-scale climate change. The future of human populations depends on immediate halting of activities exacerbating the present trend. Experiments in replantation have had success in reversing these effects. Success stories abound of villages restructuring their use of forest resources and their agricultural techniques, resulting in sustainable habitation and improved living standards.

Driven by the need for wildlife protection and forest conservation for the benefit of man and animal, BPP tackles the numerous issues facing sustainable development and habitation through work at the grass-roots level. Major issues addressed by the projects of BPP include:

1. the lack of health care and access to health care facilities in the remote forest villages of Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve
2. the lack of understanding of forest villagers as to the need for conservation of forested area and protection of wildlife
3. the dependence of villagers on limited forest resources, resulting in consistent illegal entry into Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve
4. the low productivity of subsistence farms and subsequent low living standards of forest villages
5. the resulting animosity of villagers toward the Tiger Reserve.

Madhya Pradesh is home to some 22% of the world's population of tigers, as well as being an extremely poor and uneducated state. The large tribal population and the thousands of forest villages inhabiting the same range as these animals are the key to their protection. Bandhavgarh's problems are typical of forested areas in Madhya Pradesh, as well as in most of India. Programs similar to the ones outlined above have proven successful in several areas, and much research was done to modify successful programs to fit the needs of Bandhavgarh. In the future, it is hoped that the organization's activities will spread to other forested areas of the state and country. In particular, it is hoped that successful programs will replicated in villages of territorial forests, where over half of the state's tigers reside.

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