Project Tiger is a
tiger conservation programme launched in April 1973 by the
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
during
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...
's tenure. The project aims at ensuring a viable population of the
Bengal tiger
The Bengal tiger is a population of the ''Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies. It ranks among the biggest wild cats alive today. It is considered to belong to the world's charismatic megafauna.
The tiger is estimated to have been present in ...
in its natural habitats, protecting it from extinction, and preserving areas of biological importance as a natural heritage that represent the diversity of
ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...
s across the tiger's range in the country. The project's task force visualised these
tiger reserves
The tiger reserves of India were set up in 1973 and are governed by Project Tiger, which is administrated by the National Tiger Conservation Authority. Until 2018, 50 protected areas have been designated tiger reserves.
In 2022, 53rd tiger reserve ...
as breeding nuclei, from which surplus animals would migrate to adjacent forests. Funds and commitment were mustered to support the intensive program of habitat protection and rehabilitation under the project.
During the tiger census of 2006, a new methodology was used extrapolating site-specific densities of tigers, their co-predators and prey derived from
camera trap
A camera trap is a camera that is automatically triggered by a change in some activity in its vicinity, like presence of an animal or a human being. It is typically equipped with a motion sensor – usually a passive infrared (PIR) sensor ...
and sign surveys using
GIS
A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing Geographic data and information, geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with Geographic information system software, sof ...
. Based on the result of these surveys, the total tiger population was estimated at 1,411 individuals ranging from 1,165 to 1,657 adult and sub-adult tigers of more than 1.5 years of age.
It was claimed that owing to the project, the number of tigers increased to 2,603–3,346 individuals by 2018.
In a testimony to the success of Project Tiger, in 2022, 54th tiger reserve in India was declared in Ranipur Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttar Pradesh, being the State’s fourth tiger reserve.
Objectives
![Tiger Yawning Mudumalai Mar21 DSC01305](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Tiger_Yawning_Mudumalai_Mar21_DSC01305.jpg)
Project Tiger's main aims are to:
*Reduce factors that lead to the depletion of tiger habitats and to mitigate them by suitable management. The damages done to the habitat shall be rectified to facilitate the recovery of the ecosystem to the maximum possible extent.
*Ensure a viable tiger population for economic, scientific, cultural, aesthetic and ecological values.
The monitoring system
M-STrIPES was developed to assist patrol and protect tiger habitats. It maps patrol routes and allows forest guards to enter sightings, events and changes when patrolling. It generates protocols based on these data, so that management decisions can be adapted.
Management and population
![State_wise_Bengal_Tiger_Population_India,_2019](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/State_wise_Bengal_Tiger_Population_India%2C_2019.jpg)
Project Tiger was administered by the
National Tiger Conservation Authority. The overall administration of the project is monitored by a steering committee, which is headed by a director. A field director is appointed for each reserve, who is assisted by a group of field and technical personnel.
*
Shivalik-
Terai
The Terai or Tarai is a lowland region in northern India and southern Nepal that lies south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas, the Sivalik Hills, and north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. This lowland belt is characterised by tall grasslands, scr ...
Conservation Unit
* North-East Conservation Unit
*
Sunderbans Conservation Unit
*
Western Ghats Conservation Unit
*
Eastern Ghats
The Eastern Ghats are a discontinuous range of mountains along India's eastern coast. The Eastern Ghats pass through Odisha, Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu in the south passing some parts of Karnataka as well as Telangana. They are eroded and cut ...
Conservation Unit
* Central India Conservation Unit
*
Sariska
Sariska Tiger Reserve is a tiger reserve in Alwar district, Rajasthan, India. It stretches over an area of comprising scrub-thorn arid forests, dry deciduous forests, grasslands, and rocky hills. This area was a hunting preserve of the Alwa ...
Conservation Unit
*
Kaziranga Conservation Unit
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 a collection of minor forest produce, grazing, and other human disturbances are not allowed within.
* 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 spillover population of wild animals from the core conservation unit and providing site-specific co-developmental inputs to surrounding villages for relieving their impact on the core area.
The important thrust areas for the Plan period are:
*Stepped-up protection/networking surveillance.
*Voluntary relocation of people from core/critical tiger habitat to provide inviolate space for tiger.
*Use of information technology in wildlife crime prevention.
*Addressing human-wildlife conflicts.
*Capacity building of frontier personnel.
*Developing a national repository of camera trap tiger photographs with IDs.
*Strengthening the regional offices of the NTCA.
*Declaring and consolidating new tiger reserves.
*Foresting awareness for eliciting new tiger reserves.
*Foresting Research.
For each tiger reserve, management plans were drawn up based on the following principles:
* Elimination of all forms of human exploitation and biotic disturbance from the core area and rationalization of activities in the
buffer zone
* Restricting the habitat management only to repair the damages done to the
ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...
by human and other interferences to facilitate recovery of the ecosystem to its natural state
* Monitoring the faunal and floral changes over time and carrying out research about wildlife
By the late 1980s, the initial nine reserves covering an area of had been increased to 15 reserves covering an area of . More than 1100 tigers were estimated to inhabit the reserves by 1984.
By 1997, 23 tiger reserves encompassed an area of , but the fate of tiger habitat outside the reserves was precarious, due to pressure on habitat, incessant
poaching
Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights.
Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...
and large-scale development projects such as dams, industry, and mines.
Wireless communication systems and outstation patrol camps have been developed within the tiger reserves, due to which poaching has declined considerably. Fire protection is effectively done by suitable preventive and control measures. Voluntary Village relocation has been done in many reserves, especially from the core area. Livestock grazing has been controlled to a great extent in the tiger reserves. Various compensatory developmental works have improved the water regime and the ground and field level vegetation, thereby increasing the animal density. Research data about vegetation changes are also available from many reserves. Plans include the use of advanced information and communication technology in wildlife protection and crime management in tiger reserves, GIS-based digitized database development, and devising a new tiger habitat and population evaluation system.
Controversies and problems
Project Tiger's efforts were hampered by
poaching
Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights.
Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...
, as well as debacles and irregularities in
Sariska
Sariska Tiger Reserve is a tiger reserve in Alwar district, Rajasthan, India. It stretches over an area of comprising scrub-thorn arid forests, dry deciduous forests, grasslands, and rocky hills. This area was a hunting preserve of the Alwa ...
and Namdapha, both of which were reported extensively in the Indian media. The
Forest Rights Act
The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, is a key piece of forest legislation passed in India on 18 December 2006. It has also been called the Forest Rights Act, the Tribal Rights Act ...
passed by the Indian government in 2006 recognizes the rights of some forest dwelling communities in forest areas. This has led to controversy over implications of such recognition for tiger conservation. Some have argued that this is problematic as it will increase conflict and opportunities for poaching; some also assert that "tigers and humans cannot co-exist". Others argue that this is a limited perspective that overlooks the reality of human-tiger coexistence and the abuse of power by authorities, evicting local people and making them pariahs in their own traditional lands rather than allowing them a proper role in decision-making, in the tiger crisis. The latter position was supported by the Government of India's Tiger Task Force, and is also taken by some forest dwellers' organizations.
Campaign for Survival and Dignity ''Tiger Conservation: A Disaster in the Making''
. forestrightsact.com
See also
* List of Indian states by tiger population
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
* Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education
The Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) is an autonomous organisation or governmental agency under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. Headquartered in Dehradun, its functions are to conduct fore ...
* Tiger poaching in India Tiger poaching in India has seriously impacted the probability of survival of tigers in India. About 3,000 wild tigers now survive compared with 100,000 at the turn of the 20th century. This abrupt decimation in population count was largely due to t ...
* Tiger reserves of India
The tiger reserves of India were set up in 1973 and are governed by Project Tiger, which is administrated by the National Tiger Conservation Authority. Until 2018, 50 protected areas have been designated tiger reserves.
In 2022, 53rd tiger reser ...
References
External links
Project Tiger official website
{{Tiger Reserves Of India
Wildlife conservation in India
Tiger reserves of India
Tigers in India
1973 in India
Conservation projects