Over 90,000 Acres of Critical Tiger Habitat to be Logged for Profit - Stop FDCM's Plan!
- by: Mary Elizabeth
- recipient: Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra
The Bengal Tiger is one of the world’s most beautiful and iconic species, but it is also one of the most endangered. In India, fewer than 1,500 of these great cats exist in the wild, and their numbers are continuing to plummet due to poaching, habitat destruction, and conflicts with humans. At this rate, the tiger will be extinct in the wild within a few decades.
That’s why I was shocked to learn that the government of the Indian state of Maharashtra has just given the Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM) permission to clearcut over 96,300 acres of critical tiger habitat. The lush forest will be stripped, sold, and replaced with commercial teak and bamboo plantations.
FDCM is a wholly-owned state government company engaged in commercial extraction of timber, with zero wildlife management practices in its areas.
Even worse is that nearly 50,000 acres of this logging concession is in Lendezari, a dense, high-quality forest between the Pench and Nagzira tiger reserves. These two reserves alone are home to at least fifty wild tigers and their cubs.
Lendezari serves as a critical wildlife corridor, allowing tigers to move from one reserve to another in order to breed. In fact, the Lendezari region is so important to biodiversity that there were once plans to permanently protect it as a wildlife refuge. Without Lendezari, the tiger’s habitat will become even more fragmented, isolating populations and greatly decreasing the species' genetic diversity. Fragmented forests also make tigers more vulnerable to poaching and human conflict.
India's National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has warned against the destruction of Lendezari, and urged FDCM to explore alternative options. But their pleas fell on deaf ears.
Unless we act now, Lendezari will almost certainly be destroyed, along with India's last wild tigers.
But Pardeshi insists that logging is good for wildlife, saying:
"Maximum areas under forest, or for that matter, wildlife, are surviving healthily only in countries which intensively log forests."
We have to tell Mr. Pardeshi and the FDCM that logging is not conservation, and put a stop to this ill-thought plan. Tigers have already lost almost 76% of their Indian habitat over the last 100 years. We simply cannot allow them to lose any more.
It's up to you to be the voice of the tigers. Let's roar!
The Bengal Tiger is one of India’s greatest natural treasures. Unfortunately, fewer than 1,500 of these great cats exist in the wild, and their numbers are continuing to plummet due to poaching, habitat destruction, and conflicts with humans. If this trend continues, the tiger will be extinct in the wild within a few decades.
That’s why I was disappointed to learn that the Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra is considering logging operations in Lendezari. As you are no doubt aware, Lendezari is a very high-quality forest which provides excellent habitat for wildlife, including the Bengal Tiger. In fact, Lendezari is so important to biodiversity that it was once under consideration as a wildlife refuge.
Of particular concern is that Lendezari is located between the Pench and Nagzira tiger reserves, which are together home to over fifty wild tigers. Although the the area of Lendezari to be logged is over 10 km from the reserves, keeping this forest intact is still of utmost importance to the survival of the Bengal tiger.
Tigers use Lendezari as a critical wildlife corridor, which allows the animals to move from one reserve to another in order to breed. When a corridor like Lendezari is destroyed or altered, the tigers cannot roam as freely, and this decreases their genetic diversity and leads to inbreeding, one of the most severe threats to the tiger’s survival. If the forest is fragmented, the tigers which live there will also become increasingly threatened by poaching and human conflict.
India has lost 76% of her tiger habitat over the last century. Please, do not make her lose any more. There is simply no reason for logging the Lendezari area when lower-quality lands are available for the project. I implore you to look into alternatives for Lendezari, for the sake of the tigers, India, and the world. Do not let one of our greatest natural treasures disappear.
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