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Project Tiger
Launched in 1973-74, is one of our most successful conservation
ventures in the recent times. The project aims at tiger
conservation in specially constituted 'tiger reserves', which are
representative of various bio-geographical regions falling within
our country. It strives to maintain a viable tiger population in
the natural environment.
An estimate of the tiger population in India, at the turn of the
century, placed the figure at 40,000. Subsequently, the first ever
all India tiger census was conducted in 1972 which revealed the
existence of only 1827 tigers. Various pressures in the later part
of the last century led to the progressive decline of wilderness,
resulting in the disturbance of viable tiger habitats. At the IUCN
General Assembly meeting in Delhi, in 1969, serious concern was
voiced about the threat to several species of wildlife and the
shrinkage of wilderness in the country. In 1970, a national ban on
tiger hunting was imposed and in 1972 the Wildlife Protection Act
came into force. A 'Task Force' was then set up to formulate a
project for tiger conservation with an ecological approach.
The project was launched in 1973,
and various tiger reserves were created in the country on a
'core-buffer' strategy. The core areas were freed from all sorts
of human activities and the buffer areas were subjected to
'conservation oriented land use'. Management plans were drawn up
for each tiger reserve, based on the principles outlined below:
1. Elimination of all forms of human exploitation and biotic
disturbance from the core area and rationalization of activities
in the buffer zone.
2. Restricting the habitat management only to repair the damages
done to the eco-system by human and other interferences, so as to
facilitate recovery of the eco-system to its natural state.
3. Monitoring the faunal and floral changes over time and carrying
out research about wildlife.
Initially, 9 tiger reserves were established in different States
during the period 1973-74, by pooling the resources available with
the Central and State Governments. These nine reserves covered an
area of about 13,017sq.km-viz Manas (Assam), Palamau (Bihar),
Similipal (Orissa), Corbett (U.P.), Kanha (M.P.), Melghat
(Maharashtra), Bandipur (Karnataka), Ranthambhore (Rajasthan) and
Sunderbans (West Bengal).
The project started as a 'Central Sector Scheme' with the full
assistance of Central Government till 1979-80: later, it become a
'centrally Sponsored Scheme' from 1980-81, with equal sharing of
expenditure between the center and the states.
The W.W.F. has given an assistance of US $ 1 million in the form
of equipments, expertise and literature. The various States are
also bearing the loss on account of giving up the forestry
operations in the reserves.
The main achievements of this project are excellent recovery of
the habitat and consequent increase in the tiger population in the
reserve areas, from a mere 268 in 9 reserves in 1972 to 1576 in 27
reserves in 2003. Tiger, being at the apex of the food chain, can
be considered as the indicator of the stability of the eco-system.
For a viable tiger population, a habitat should possess a good
prey base, which in turn will depend on an undisturbed forest
vegetation. Thus, 'Project Tiger', is basically the conservation
of the entire eco-system and apart from tigers, all other wild
animals also have increased in number in the project areas. In the
subsequent 'Five Year Plans', the main thrust was to enlarge the
core and buffer zones in certain reserves, intensification of
protection and eco development in the buffer zones of existing
tiger reserves, creation of additional tiger reserves and
strengthening of the research activities.
The management strategy was to identify the limiting factors and
to mitigate them by suitable management. The damages done to the
habitat were to be rectified, so as to facilitate the recovery of
eco-system to the maximum possible extent. Management practices,
which tend to push the wildlife populations beyond the carrying
capacity of the habitat were carefully avoided. A minimum core of
300 sq. km. with a sizeable buffer was recommended for each
project area. The overall administration of the project is
monitored by a 'Steering Committee'. The execution of the project
is done by the respective State Governments. A 'Field Director' is
appointed for each reserve, who is assisted by the field and
technical personnel. The Chief Wildlife wardens in various States
are responsible for the field execution. At the Centre, a
full-fledged 'Director' of the project coordinates the work for
the country.
Present
Wireless communication system 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 measure Voluntory Village
relocation has been done in many reserves, especially from the
core, area. In Kanha, Bandipur and Ranthambhore, all the villages
have been shifted from the core, and after relocation, the
villagers have been provided with alternate agricultural lands and
other community benefits. This has resulted in the improvement of
the carrying capacity of the habitat. Live stock 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 vegetations, thereby increasing the
animal density. Research data pertaining to vegetational changes
are also available from many reserves. In general, the
'restorative management' and 'intense protection' under 'Project
Tiger' have saved many of our eco-typical areas from destruction.
The area around the buffer is now contemplated as a zone of
multiple use, to bring compatibility between the reserves and the
neighbouring communities.
Future
a) Use of Information and Communication technology in Wildlife
Protection and Crime Risk Management in Tiger reserves.
Wildlife protection and crime risk management in the present
scenario requires a widely distributed Information Network, using
the state-of-art Information and Communication Technology. This
becomes all the more important to ensure the desired level of
protection in field formations to safeguard the impressive gains
of a focused project like 'Project Tiger'. The important elements
in Wildlife protection and control are: Mapping/plotting the
relative spatial abundance of wild animals, identification of risk
factors, proximity to risk factors, sensitivity categorization,
crime mapping and immediate action for apprehending the offenders
based on effective networking and communication. Space technology
has shown the interconnectivity of natural and anthropogenic
phenomena occurring anywhere on earth. Several Tiger Reserves are
being linked with the Project Tiger Directorate in the GIS domain
for Wildlife Crime Risk Management.
b) GIS based digitized database and MIS development/networking in
Tiger Reserves:
With the advanced IT tools, a wide gamut of software solutions are
available to improve wildlife related information capture process,
its analysis and informed decision making. Geographic Information
System is the most relevant of these technologies for natural
resource management projects, including wildlife management. The
mandate of project tiger is to conserve tigers in a holistic
manner. The GIS based database at PTHQ is being linked with the
microcomputers in the Tiger Reserves, so that a dynamic linkage
for rapid information flow is established using Arc IMS facility.
c) Tiger Habitat & Population Evaluation System for the Indian Sub
Continent
A 'Tiger Atlas of India' and a 'Tiger Habitat & Population
Evaluation System for the country is being developed using the
state- of - the - art technology.
This involves:
1. Mapping , data acquisition and GIS modeling
2. Field data collection and validation
3. Data Maintenance , Dissemination and Use
The following potential tiger habitats in the country are being
covered:
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Shivalik-Terai Conservation Unit
(Uttaranchal, UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Nepal)
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Nort east Conservation Unit
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Sunderbans Conservation Unit
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Central Indian Conservation Unit
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Eastern Ghat Conservation Unit
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Western Ghat Conservation Unit
Satellite data is being used and
classified into vegetation and land use maps on a 1:50,000 scale,
with digitized data relating to contour , villages, roads ,
drainage , administrative boundaries and soil . The spatial layers
would be attached with attribute data , viz. human population ,
livestock population , meteorological data, agricultural
information and field data pertaining to wildlife, habitat for
evolving regional protocols to monitor tiger and its habitat.
Vision For the Future
The dynamics of forest management and wildlife conservation have
been distorted due to need for income, lack of awareness, lack of
landuse policy and population pressure. Since the traditional use
systems of people are neither static nor benign, these should not
be overlooked.
A regional development approach in landscapes having Tiger
Reserves is of utmost importance in our country. It should be
viewed as a mosaic of different landuse patterns, viz, tiger
conservation / preservation, forestry, sustainable use and
development, besides socio-economic growth.
Tiger habitats exist in environments of thousands of indigenous
communities which depend on them. Therefore we cannot view these
protected areas in isolation from the surrounding socio-economic
realities and developmental priorities of the Govt. This calls for
a cross-sectoral and cross-disciplinary approach.
Tigers now need a "preservationist" approach. Regional planning is
important around Tiger Reserves to foster ecological connectivity
between protected areas through restorative inputs with integrated
landuse planning. The management plan of a Tiger Reserve,
therefore, needs to be integrated in larger regional management
plans.
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