As Madhya Pradesh government plans to seek review of the Apex court order banning tourism in core areas of tiger reserves, "Prayatna", an NGO which had moved the court for protection and conservation of tigers, has suggested that tourism should be permitted only in the peripheral areas and called for having a separate corpus fund to beef up security for tigers and setting up an autonomous body to deal with disputes related to eco-tourism issues.

"National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had formulated guidelines for eco-tourism. We are now filing our comments on these guidelines as directed by the Supreme Court, listing our suggestions", tiger conservation activist Ajay Dubey told TOI. 

Pointing out that he felt that tourism activities should not at all be permitted inside the core areas of tiger reserves, he said no tourist facilities of any nature be allowed in the critical area and no human recreational activity should be permitted inside the core area and such existing facilities should be shifted out in a time-bound manner. "In Madhya Pradesh, certain hotel and lodges are operating inside the core areas of tiger reserves", he pointed out.

Another suggestion being put forward is that the revenue generated from tourists at the time of entry into the protected areas of tiger reserves should be invested in a separate corpus fund to be used for the purpose of security of the tigers and for funding the prosecution of wildlife crime cases. At present, the rate of final convictions in wildlife crimes is hardly one to 2% in all the cases.

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