Panna, Madhya Pradesh

After the lull in tourism for nearly a year and a half of the pandemic, the forests of Panna are slowly filling up with the excited murmurs of tourists. This spells good news not just for the revenue of the forest department, but also for the hundreds of people who depend on wildlife tourism for a livelihood.

“Every year there are more than ten lakh tourists who visit the national parks and sanctuaries in Madhya Pradesh,” Uttam Kumar Sharma, field operator, Panna Tiger Reserve, told Gaon Connection. “The entrance fee alone to these parks and sanctuaries brings in a revenue of about thirty crore rupees to the exchequer,” he said. In 2020-21 the Panna Tiger Reserve earned Rs 1.5 crore and it is expected it will earn a lot more, Uttam Kumar Sharma said. There are more than 70 tigers in the Panna Tiger Reserve, with more than 20 cubs.

According to Sharma while the entrance fee alone earned the Panna Tiger Reserve about Rs 1.67 crores annually, eco-tourism in the region generates Rs 21 crores worth of economy.

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The Panna Tiger Reserve generates employment for nearly 1,800 people inhabiting eight villages in and around the reserve. Besides this, more than 700 people earn their livelihood as daily wagers.

According to information from the Panna Tiger Reserve, of the 576.13 square kilometres of the core area of the reserve, only 17 per cent is open to tourists. The rules of touring the area are very strict with tourists visiting the allowed areas in permitted vehicles during fixed times. The core zone allows up to 85 vehicles each day. Besides the core zone, the Akola and Jhinna buffer zones are also open to tourists. 

According to Uttam Kumar Sharma, tourism is allowed in the buffer zones throughout the year and there are night safaris that can be organised too that go on till 9.30 pm. The buffer zones are popular with the tourists as they more often than not are able to spot a tiger or two there.

According to Uttam Kumar Sharma, a lot of wildlife tourism flourishes where there are tigers. “That is one reason why the Panna Tiger Reserve over a decade has managed to survive the ups and downs and other challenges it has faced,” he said.

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There was a time when the Panna Tiger Reserve had become empty of tigers, Sharma recalled. “By 2009 tigers had completely disappeared from the Panna forest. This had a severe impact on tourist flow. But, in March 2009 efforts were made on a war footing to repopulate the Panna forests,” Sharma said. “A tigress was brought from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve to Panna Tiger Reserve, then another tigress was brought here from Kanha Tiger Reserve and finally, a male tiger arrived from Pench,” Sharma added. The focus centred entirely on the conservation and repopulation process of the tigers in Panna, Sharma said. The mission was a success. 

Besides tiger-sighting, the Panna Tiger Reserve has a lot more to offer by way of eco-tourism. The core area has the beautiful Pandav Falls, Raneh Falls, Ken Gharial sanctuary, etc.

“There are ninety one guides who show tourists around in the ninety one vehicles of the Panna Tiger Reserve,” Puneet Sharma, a guide at the reserve, told Gaon Connection. Most of the guides were from villages near the tiger reserve, she added. “Because they too benefit from the Tiger Reserve, the people here are also committed towards conservation of wildlife and the ecology,” she said.

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Brijendra Pratap Singh, local legislator and mineral resources and labour minister, Madhya Pradesh said Panna had come to be identified worldwide with its tiger reserve. He said it was important to work towards making the tiger reserve a source of employment and livelihood for people in the region. “Panna Tiger Reserve has come so far, starting from nothing and is a shining example of tiger and wildlife conservation. Today, tigers roam the forests of Panna, both in its core area and in the buffer zones.” According to the guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, only 20 per cent of the core area of a tiger reserve is allowed to be open to tourists. The three other tiger reserves in Madhya Pradesh at Kanha, Pench and Bandhavgarh, tourists are making full use of this. In Panna however, the tourist activity is not up to potential in the core area.

However, according to the guides at Panna, the sighting of tigers is often more in the buffer zones than in the core areas of the reserve, and visitors rarely go away disappointed. In addition, in the Jhinna buffer zone tourists have the added attraction of sighting bears, leopards, etc.  A lot of innovations are underway in the buffer zones like developing walking trails, setting up watchtowers to stargaze, etc., to attract more footfalls to the buffer zone.

Read the story in Hindi.