In the past few decades while conversation efforts have increased the wildlife tourism has also gained popularity. It is said that animal conservation and tourism are intrinsically linked: when one falls, the other falls with it. At the same time it is also a fact that wildlife are not very comfortable around human population. The increased tourism can make certain species vulnerable. So is the increased Wildlife tourism blessing for the conservation or does it hamper the efforts?
Since it is World Wildlife day so at Indian Masterminds we thought of discussing it with wildlife experts. We invited forest officer who are contributing in conservation efforts of various species to talk about their opinion on tourism & its role in conservation.
Field Director & Conservator of Forests , Bandipur Dr. Ramesh Kumar P, Deputy Conservator of Forests (Resource Utilisation) Maharashtra Mr. Umesh Udal Verma,., Divisional Forest Officer Middle Andaman Nicobar, Dr Abdul Qayum and DFO of Ziro, Arunachal Pradesh Abhinav Kumar, DFO Ramnathpuram Tamil Nadu Mr. Jagdish S Bakan, and Member State Planning Commission (PAC) Tamil Nadu Ms. Sudha Ramen participated in the webinar.
Do they find the tourism helpful or have some other views on this? Why speculate if you can watch the full discussion here :
