Tourism pressure on Kaziranga park to be shifted from core area

28th May 2011

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The unimpeded growth of tourism around Kaziranga National Park would soon be shifted from the core area of this national park, according to a Times of India report. Sunit Banerji, Chairperson of the Committee on Forests, Environment and Eco-tourism under the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests said recently.

Banerji, who was in Guwahati to attend a convention of Tour Operators` Association of Assam (TOAA), said concrete structures and other infrastructure ringing forests should be regulated in such a way that wildlife is able to move freely in buffer zones of protected eco-systems. "Buffer areas need to be well forested and so once wildlife starts inhabiting these areas, pressure of tourism is shifted from the core areas. There has to be incentives for the local community to allow forest increase in buffer areas," Banerji observed.

The former Union Secretary of Tourism said the committee, formed after unregulated tourism was reported from tiger reserves across the country, would promote other parks and wildlife sanctuaries in the state to reduce "pressure" on Kaziranga. Banerji said the committee will soon come out with recommendations on tourism in tiger reserves.