TN plans tiger reserve in Erode, tribals fear losing livelihood

Tribals are against the Tamil Nadu forest department’s proposed plan to convert the Erode forest division into a tiger reserve. About 7,000 people from six tribal hamlets are likely to get affected if the plans sees through. Villagers fear the move may deprive them of their livelihood which is fundamentally dependent on forest resources like dry wood. The forest department, on the other hand, thinks that converting this forest land into a reserve will help protect the wild cats in a better way.

M Murugan, who lives in Burgur in Anthiyur taluk of Erode district, is apprehensive about getting adequate support from the forest department. “Setting up a tiger reserve will badly impact our livelihood. We will have to seek the forest department’s permission even to access the existing roads in the forest area. And, getting permission from the officers is not at all easy,” said Murugan.

In January, the Tamil Nadu forest department initiated the process of converting the Erode forest division into a tiger reserve. It has not yet issued a formal notification to this effect. Once the notification is issued, objections and suggestions will be invited from people.

The reserve would be the sixth in Tamil Nadu once it gets the required permissions. The Erode forest division is spread across 82,144 hectares of land and has about 15-20 tigers, according to the forest department.

“The Erode forest division was chosen with a clear objective to save tigers in the region. The area is surrounded by two protected areas, Kollegal Forest division in Karnataka in the North and Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve in the West and converting it into a reserve would mean tigers would have a big and protected area to roam around,” said a forest official in the Erode forest division.

Emphasising on the need for more land for the wild cats, the officer said, “Humans understand the boundaries, tigers don’t know. In fact they don’t have any boundaries. The good thing is tigers are sighted almost everywhere in the Erode Forest division, like they are seen in the nearby Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve and in Kollegal Forest Division. If we have to protect them and increase their population, it is important to convert this region into a tiger reserve,” a forest ranger said.

However, villagers say the decision was taken without consulting them. “We came to know about the proposal only in late December. It came as a shock. Our fellow tribals in the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve are struggling to survive. They find it difficult to enter the forest area even to pay obeisance to their gods in temples located inside the forest. We are worried the same may happen to us,” Murugan added.

To voice their concerns, people living in and around the six tribal hamlets of the region assembled at Thamaraikarai near Anthiyur recently. The villagers said the forest department should allow them to graze their cattle without any hindrance. “We live close to the forest. If we are stopped from taking our cattle inside, where will we take them?” asked another villager.

The tribals also want no restrictions on collecting forest produce. “Our livelihood is dependent on the forest produce we collect. Be it honey, plant roots used as ayurvedic medicine or firewood…the forest is important for us to survive. We fear all this will change the moment they convert the region into a tiger reserve,” said K Shanmugam, another villager.

VP Gunasekaran, a member of the Tamil Nadu Tribal People’s Association, said that local people’s opinion is a must. “Until now, the forest department has not got the people’s opinion. If they go ahead with the proposal without considering locals’ views, the whole process will be legally unviable,” he said.

Gunasekaran also said the state government should implement Forest Rights Act of 2006. “The Act ensures all our rights in the forest region. However, it has not been implemented in Tamil Nadu yet,” he added.

However, a senior official in the Tamil Nadu forest department said that the process of converting the Erode forest division into a tiger reserve would be done following central government’s guidelines and locals’ interests will be taken into consideration. “The process involves data collection, corroborating survey reports and field work. As per the procedure, the locals will also be heard before taking a final decision,” the official said. He tried to remove their fears by saying that locals would be roped in to protect the forest region after the reserve is formed.

According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority, there were 264 tigers in Tamil Nadu in 2018. Their number has registered a sharp increase since 2006 when there were only 76 tigers in the state.