Tiger Reserves in India

· Tiger is the National Animal of India and also has a significant position in Indian culture.  Tiger usually symbolizes Power and enormous Energy.

· India is home to 70% of Tigers in the World. Tiger Conservation in India is a very important topic as the current number of tigers has been making into the endangered list. However, government have been trying their best to restore these sets of species.

· This article gives an insight into the majors carried out for Tiger conservation in India.

Tiger Conservation in India – Project Tiger

· It was launched in the country in the year 1973 in Palamau Tiger Reserve.

· The first time project tiger was launched in 1973, at Jim Corbett National Park, Uttrakhand. (in some sources)

· It was done with the help of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) on the basis of the recommendation of a special task-force of the Indian Board for Wildlife.

Tiger Reserves in India

· Tiger reserves are administered by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

· Initially, only 9 tiger reserves were covered under the project Tiger which has now increased to 50.

· On the recommendation of NTCA, the state government has the power to notify a region as a tiger reserve.

· There are 50 tiger reserves spreading across 17 states (tiger reserve states) of India which is home to nearly 70% of tiger population of the world.

· From 1,411 tigers in 2006, this number has increased to 1,706 in 2010 and 2,967 in 2018.

Core and Buffer Zones in Tiger Reserves

· The various tiger reserves were created in the country based on the ‘core-buffer’ strategy –

Core area:

· The core areas are free of all human activities. It has the legal status of a national park or wildlife sanctuary.

· It is kept free of biotic disturbances and forestry operations like collection of minor forest produce, grazing, and other human disturbances are not allowed within.

· These areas are required to be kept for the purposes of tiger conservation, without affecting the rights of the Scheduled Tribes or such other forest dwellers.

Buffer areas:

· The buffer areas are subjected to ‘conservation-oriented land use’. They comprise forest and non-forest land.

· It is a multi-purpose use area with twin objectives of providing habitat supplement to spill over population of wild animals from core conservation unit and to provide site specific co-developmental inputs to surrounding villages for relieving their impact on core area.

National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)

· It is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, constituted under provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, as amended in 2006.

· Formed for strengthening tiger conservation.

· The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2006 provides for creating National Tiger Conservation Authority and Tiger and Other Endangered Species Crime Control Bureau (Wildlife Crime Control Bureau).

· National Tiger Conservation Authority administers Project Tiger. Administration of the tiger reserves will be in accordance with guidelines of NTCA.

· Minister for Environment and Forests is its chairperson and Minister of State for Environment and Forests is the vice-chairperson.

· The NTCA / Project Tiger also conducts the country level assessment of the status of tiger, co-predators, prey and habitat once in every four years. It is done using the refined methodology, as approved by the Tiger Task Force.

State-wise List of Tiger Reserves in India

Here is a complete list of Tiger Reserves in India as notified under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and amended in 2006.

 

New Tiger Reserves

· Recently, the National Tiger Conservation Authority has agreed for the formation of four new tiger reserves in –

o Sunabeda Tiger Reserve (Odisha),

o Ratapani Tiger Reserve (Madhya Pradesh)

o Orang (Assam)

o Guru Ghasidas (Chhattisgarh)

· The respective state governments have been directed to send the proposal for announcing following areas as tiger reserves –

o Suhelwa (Uttar Pradesh),

o Cauvery MM Hills (Karnataka),

o Mhadei Sanctuary (Goa),

o Srivilliputhur Grizzled Giant Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary (Tamil Nadu) and

o Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary (Arunachal Pradesh).

Some Interesting Facts Related to Tiger Reserves in India

· Nagpur is also known as the ‘Tiger Capital of India’.

· There are 13 tiger reserves in this Vidharbha (including the Nagpur division of eastern) alone.

· Largest Tiger Reserve in India – Nagarjunsagar – Srisailam Tiger Reserve (Andhra Pradesh, Telangana)

· Smallest Tiger Reserve in India – Bor Tiger Reserve (Maharashtra)

· Kamlang Tiger Reserve, Arunachal Pradesh is India’s 50th Tiger Reserve.

 

So, this was all about the Tiger Reserves in India and Conservation efforts for Tigers. If you want to read more about the PROJECT TIGER, you can click here to read more – PROJECT TIGER.

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