| It is imperative that these forests be protected.
They prevent soil erosion and hold the devastating cyclones
common to West Bengal, at bay. Conservation efforts will eventually
encompass all species in the area, even if the focus remains
on the tiger.
Shortsighted commercial exploitation threatens several species.
Mollusc shells, honey and wax is collected from the forests.
Fisheries, tourism and cottage industries are viewed as a
means of fast and plentiful cash. Water pollution is a problem
that is precipitated by the practice of aquaculture in the
brackish waters. Industrial pollutants are also becoming increasingly
more apparent in the waters.
Indiscriminate harvesting of tiger prawn seeds also reduces
the mullet population of other fish. Prawn farming in the
outer reaches of the mangrove belt poses a serious threat
to the mangrove ecosystem. Millions of fish fry are destroyed,
which are vital to the replenishment of the mangrove ecosystem.
Mullets are valued for food and decimation in their numbers
spell trouble for the traditional fisher folk too, besides
being a conservation issue.
The proposed 191 km long International Steamer Channel that
seeks to widen and deepen the waterway will result in an increased
human influx, toxic oil spills; light and noise pollution
with debilitating effects on the ecosystem.
The ethics of strategies like installing human dummies charged
with electricity to mislead tigers has resulted in several
tigers being subjected to cruel electric shocks. Human encroachment
and poaching is as much a problem here as it is in any other
reserve. Illegal trade in timber, tiger bones and skin continues.
The number of tigers has dropped from 269 in 1989 to 242 in
1995.
The rare monitor lizard, Varanus salvator is greatly in need
of protection. Though sea turtles and Batagur terrapins are
protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act,
these often end up on the dinner table. The Forest Department
has taken measures to protect the Olive Ridley turtle and
river terrapins by constructing an artificial egg-incubation
facility at Sajnekhali where hatchlings are reintroduced into
the Bay of Bengal. Entry of humans into the core reserve area
has been banned.
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