Context: 

The Supreme Court slammed the former Uttarakhand forest minister for illegal construction and felling of trees inside Jim Corbett National Park, part of the Corbett Tiger Reserve.

Key Highlight of the Supreme Court Judgement On Corbett Tiger Reserve

• Politico-Administrative Nexus: It also condemned the illegal felling of over 6,000 trees to construct buildings ostensibly for “eco-tourism” at the Corbett tiger reserve in Uttarakhand as a “classic case” of the greedy nexus between politicians and officials working to devastate the environment for short-term commercial ends.
• Illegal Construction: It also found construction of concrete buildings without due administrative clearances. 
• Formation of a Committee: The SC directed the formation of a committee comprising of representatives from Central Empowered Committee, NTCA, Wildlife Institute of India and Union ministry of environment, forests and climate change. 
• Restoration of the Damages: The panel will “recommend the measures for restoration of the damages, in the local in situ environment to its original state before the damage was caused; assess the environmental damage caused in Corbett tiger reserve and quantify the costs for restoration
  • The state shall recover the quantified cost from the people and delinquent officers responsible for the damage. 
• Feasibility of Tiger Safaris: The committee will also consider and submit recommendations on whether tiger safaris can be permitted in the fringe area of the forests

About Corbett Tiger Reserve

• Location: Nainital, Uttarakhand.
• Geographical Features: It has various ravines, ridges, minor streams and small plateaus with degrees of slopes and changeable aspects. The Patli Dun Valley, formed by the Ramganga River, also runs through the middle of the park.
• Rivers: Ramganga, Kosi & Sonanadi.The park’s “lifeline” is the Ramganga River, which flows from the Gairsain region of the Lesser Himalayas. 
  • Tributaries such as the Sonanadi, Mandal, and Palain Rivers join the river. 
  • The park’s eastern boundary is the Kosi River, which flows from Mohan to Ramnagar via Dhikuli.

Flora of Corbett Tiger Reserve

Fauna of Corbett Tiger Reserve

Challenges Associated With National Parks in India:

• Human-Wildlife Conflict:  Human-wildlife conflicts arise when there is a clash between the needs and activities of local communities and the conservation objectives of national parks
  • For Example: The escalating animal-human conflict in the Mysore region worries wildlife lovers and environmentalists. A tiger killed a 54-year-old tribal man in the Bandipur Tiger Reserve who entered the forest to collect fodder for his goats.
• Habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation: Species habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation are interconnected with population growth and land use. 
  • For Example: Linear intrusions like roads and powerlines, quarrying, sand mining, and diversion of forest land for non-forest uses have created new forest edges.
• Poaching and Illegal Wildlife Trade: Poaching and illegal wildlife trade pose significant threats to the conservation of endangered species in national parks in India.
  • For Example: According to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) As many as 51 incidents of illegal wildlife trade were reported from Karnataka during 2022.
  • Climatic factors: It changes the flowering patterns of flowers, fruits, and foraging and forest usage patterns of animals.
  • As animals change their movements, they tend to alter the ecosystem considerably. For instance, elephants are moving into Himachal Pradesh, and other colder areas of the country, where no sightings of elephants had been reported earlier. 
• Alien Species Invasion: This is mainly caused by irresponsible imports and exports. Some invasions lead to the extinction of native species and impact the native environment.
  • For example: When elephants move in no native environments, they alter the existing forests, influencing the survival of a range of established species.
• Changes in Land Use: Sub-urbanisation and the expansion of livestock grazing drive species to shift their territorial and movement behavior. Thus, wild species come into more frequent contact with people.

News Source: Down to Earth