Tiger conservationist slams mainstream tourism in Sunderbans

Tiger conservationist Belinda Wright has slammed the idea of large-scale tourism in the Sunderbans, saying "it would be a complete disaster". The Sunderbans, the world's largest mangrove forests, house the endangered Royal Bengal tigers.

The West Bengal government has evinced keen interest in developing eco-tourism parks in the Sunderbans.

"Large scale, high-end tourism in Sunderbans would be a complete disaster. It would be like killing the goose that lays the golden egg. It would probably end up in all the tigers migrating to Bangladesh," said Belinda Wright, executive director, Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) during the launch here Tuesday of the book 'The Safari - A Ranthambore Diary' compiled by industrialist Sundeep Bhutoria.

Home to endangered species like the Royal Bengal Tiger, fishing cat and Olive Ridley turtles, the Sunderbans Tiger Reserve (STR), created in 1973, covers a sprawling expanse of land and water of around 2,500 sq km.

The bulk of tourism activities is restricted to the buffer areas of the reserve (consisting of mangrove forests) while the core area (spread over 1,300 sq km) is dedicated to the protection of biodiversity and designated as the no-exploitation zone.

The core area also is significant in the sense that it juts into Bangladesh.

Wright stressed that tourism initiatives need to be "strictly controlled" in the reserve.

"Sunderban is a very, very delicate habitat and, as it is now, tourism is not in the core area, it is in the buffer area. And there is a huge volume of tourists but they are not allowed into the core area," Wright explained.

Moreover, the conservationist explained that the ever-changing weather poses a serious risk for scaling up tourism.

"Sunderbans has a very dynamic weather system and that alone would sort out any idea to introduce large sale, high-end tourism... it's a dangerous place," Wright said.