Tigers undermined

Hi Indiana,

Act now to protect the forests

I’ve got to tell you this. Our tigers are not safe. The coal scam ^[1] cost us Rs 10.67 lakh crores (212 billion US dollars) and now the government’s coal mining plan is going to cost us tigers too.^[2]

You should ask the Prime Minister to stop all new coal block allocations and forest clearances until the coal scam has been investigated and there is a clear demarcation of areas that shouldn’t be mined.

http://www.junglistan.org/act

I mean, really, what’s the point of spending crores on tiger conservation when you are going to cut down the forests to get all that coal? 35% of the 1700 Indian tigers left in the wild are in the forests of Central India, ^[3] there are leopards and elephants too. Then there are communities of indigenous people who depend on these forests for their livelihood.

Now, forests in Mahan in Madhya Pradesh have received provisional clearance for coal mining from the government.^[4] This is definitely not good news for the rest of the forests in Central India. If the government decides to throw them open for coal mining, then livelihoods of people and the lives of the tigers and other wildlife will face a serious threat.

We have only till October to collect 100,000 signatures to convince our PM to save the forests. Here’s why:

• The PM is hosting an international Convention on Bio-diversity(CBD) in October.
• We’ll give him the petition at this conference, with signatures from 100,000 people, asking him to save the forests.
• The demands of 100,000 people from and the presence of an international audience will help put pressure on him to make a commitment to protect our forests.
• Protecting forests will no longer be a fight between ministries. It will be a commitment made to the world, and not fulfilling it will hurt the reputation of the PM and our country.

You should ask the Prime Minister to stop all new coal block allocations and forest clearances until the coal scam has been investigated and there is a clear demarcation of areas that shouldn’t be mined.

http://www.junglistan.org/act

What’s sad is that we don’t even need all this coal to get our electricity. Remote villages in Bihar get electricity from solar and rice-husk powered systems. ^[5] If big factories and companies restrict the amount to energy they use to run big machines, then we won’t have to demolish more forests and hurt the tigers.

Let’s get together and save the forests, the tigers and the homes and livelihoods of those who depend on the forests.

http://www.junglistan.org/act

Thanks!

Brikesh Singh
Greenpeace India

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Sources:

1. CAG coal mine report: Govt lost Rs 10.67 lakh cr by giving 'undue benefits' to firms, Business Standard, March 22, 2012.
   http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/cag-coal-scam-report-upa-government/1/23419.html
2. How coal mining is trashing tigerland, Greenpeace report, August 1, 2012
   http://www.greenpeace.org/india/Global/india/report/How-Coal-mining-is-Trashing-Tigerland.pdf
3. Status of tigers and co-predators in India, 2010
   http://www.projecttiger.nic.in/whtsnew/Tiger_Status_oct_2010.pdf
4. Essar Energy gets clearance for Mahan coal block in Madhya Pradesh, The Economic Times, June 25, 2012.
   http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-06-25/news/32409214_1_chief-executive-naresh-nayyar-essar-energy-plc-vadinar
5. Govt. to promote eco-friendly energy in Bihar, Times of India, July 10, 2012,
   http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-07-10/patna/32617042_1_solar-power-solar-plants-power-plants

Photo Credit: Sudhir Shivaram/Greenpeace India

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