#cheetahinIndia a short thread. The Indian Prime Minister will officially announce the reintroduction of the Cheetah in India tomorrow, on the occasion of his birthday. Expect fanfare and a carefully crafted greenwashed speech that mixes conservation with nationalism.
There has been plenty of discussion on the feasibility, the pros and the cons of this. From long term ecological viability to practical constraints associated with preybase, space, genetics and threats. Here is a podcast that discusses all of these issues bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3…
What is largely missing in most discussions on the topic are issues of justice and fairness. 28 villages were hurriedly relocated from Kuno two decades ago for the reintroduction of Lions from Gir. They never came. Read this thought provoking article- ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/in…
Sahariya adivasis gave up land and their livelihoods for lions that never came. Now another village 'Bagcha' has been identified to be 'relocated' for the cheetah reintroduction. What are going to be the social implications of this vanity project on local lives and livelihoods?
The politics and nationalism around the project will move beyond social media wildlife groups and manifest itself in fortress style conservation and the militarisation of Kuno. There are already long range thermal cameras deployed for round the clock surveillance on watch towers+
Dog squads and guards are being trained by the Indo Tibetan Border Police for law enforcement and patrolling. As senior officers of the MP forest department cheerlead, daily wage labour that toils on the ground will bear the cost of this elite conservation dream+
As I write this thread, the political drama around the project has peaked. @INCIndia is now claiming 'credit' for the project. Just amazing how the human cost of this project is made invisible over power struggles between political parties and influential bureaucrats.
I request peers and conservationists who have been opposing this project, to also highlight the human costs- Labour, Livelihoods, Displacement, Rights, Participation- these should also be keywords. Move beyond ecology. There is no apolitical ecology.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
