Mudumalai Tiger Reserve buffer zone to be opened for tourists

The Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in Nilgiri District, Tamil Nadu is going to open its buffer zone for tourists. As per the Forest Department, the procedures are in final stage. Once the buffer zone is opened for tourists, the authorities expect to generate around 200 job opportunities in the reserve.

The department is planning to formulate Eco-Development Committees (EDCs) in the region, in order to elicit active co-operation from the people residing on the peripheries of the reserve and to ensure their mutual commitment in conservation works. Members of the EDCs will Engage in protection works such as Anti-poaching watchers (APWs), Anti Depredation watchers, Eco Sanitary watchers, Eco Guides, Drivers for safari vehicles, Fire watchers etc.

The EDCs are expected to be inaugurated in by the second week of September. Once the EDCs are functional, the private vehicle operators who were previously offering safaris to tourists illegally will be allowed to enter portions of the buffer zone, to allow tourists to sight wildlife.

Eco-Development Committee members

More than 105 vehicle operators have already registered with the Forest Department to operate in the buffer zone. Training has also started for more than a hundred eco-guides, who will assist tourists in spotting and identifying wildlife species.

“The buffer zone has incredible biodiversity that even the core area lacks, from vultures to striped hyenas, and a very strong population of tigers,” said a top Forest Department official

The EDC programme is expected to generate a number of employment opportunities to the locals living in and around the tiger reserves, who have mostly been working for many of the illegal resorts functioning in the area that were shut down recently.

The authorities plan to reinvest 70 per cent of the income generated from the EDCs for the community welfare activities and 30 per cent for the conservation efforts and the Tiger Conservation Foundation.  It is expected that around 15 villages will be benefited from the EDCs.

The forest department is also exploring possibilities of allowing limited trekking activities in the buffer zone, with the assistance of forest staff. The ultimate aim is to limit the tourism activities in the buffer zone only and to keep the core area untouched and concentrate on conservation of wildlife.