News highlights:
- India now boasts of 70 per cent of the world’s 13 tiger-conserving countries.
- The improvement in protection measures, modern surveillance techniques and public support in protection has been responsible for the steady improvement of the tiger population in India.
What is a tiger reserve?
- About:
- A tiger reserve is made up of two areas: a “Core” or “Critical Tiger Habitat” that must be managed as a protected space and a “Buffer” or “Peripheral” region that borders the Core area but may get less habitat protection.
- This is how a Tiger Reserve is typically zoned.
- The National Tiger Conservation Authority, which oversees Project Tiger, is in charge of the Indian tiger reserves, which were established in 1973.
- In India, tiger reserves have been established in 54 protected regions as of right now.
- Significance:
- India is home to over 70% of the world’s tigers, and Tiger signifies strength and power in Indian culture.
- The government of India has initiated various programs related to the conservation of the Tiger population.
- The project tiger was launched in India in 1973 by the government under the power of Indira Gandhi from the Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand.
- Threats to Tiger Reserves:
- Poaching is still among the significant challenges to the conservation of Tigers.
- Every part of the tiger has great market value, thus promoting hunting by professional poachers, local hunters, trappers, pirates, and villagers.
- Climate change and global warming increasing global temperatures have forced tigers and other species to shift their belts and migrate towards colder regions.
- Natural disasters such as large-scale forest fires are a great threat.
- Human encroachment of tiger habitats for livestock grazing, infrastructure expansion, and farming is a cause of concern.
- Infrastructural development such as railways and roadways severely threaten Tiger habitats.
National Tiger Conservation Authority(NTCA):
- About:
- National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
- It was established in 2005 following the recommendations of the Tiger Task Force.
- It was constituted under enabling provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, as amended in 2006, for strengthening tiger conservation, as per powers and functions assigned to it.
- Objectives:
- NTCA provides authority to Project Tiger so that its recommendations are implemented to their fullest extent.
- Nurturing accountability in the management of Tiger Reserves either by the state or Central governments through providing a basis of operations within the federal structure.
- Addressing livelihood interests of local people in areas surrounding Tiger Reserves.
Measures Taken for Tiger Conservation:
- National Tiger Conservation Authority:
- It was established in 2005, following the recommendations of the Tiger Task.
- It was given statutory status by the 2006 amendment of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, for strengthening tiger conservation, as per powers and functions assigned to it.
- Tiger Relocation Projects:
- The tiger relocation project was initiated in 2018 wherein two big cats, a male (Mahavir) from Kanha Tiger Reserve and a female (Sundari) from Bandhavgarh from Madhya Pradesh, were relocated to Satkosia Tiger Reserve in Odisha, to shore up the tiger population
- Tiger Special Protection Force:
- It will be effective in checking illegal human intrusion into the reserve through villages located on its fringes and serve as a second layer of protection for tigers
- Global Tiger Forum:
- It is an Inter-Governmental international body working exclusively for the conservation of Tigers.
- Established in 1994, the Global Tiger Forum (GTF) has its headquarters in New Delhi
- Global Tiger Initiative (GTI):
- Global Tiger Initiative (GTI) was launched in 2008 as a global alliance of governments, international organisations, civil society, conservation, and scientific communities, and the private sector, to work together to save wild tigers
- MSTrIPES:
- MSTrIPES program uses Global Positioning System (GPS), General Packet Radio Services (GPRS), and remote sensing, to collect information from the field, create a database using modern Information Technology (IT) based tools, analyses the information using GIS and statistical tools to provide inferences that allow tiger reserve managers to manage their wildlife resources better.
Pic courtesy: Freepik
Content Source: The Hindu