Question

Project on India wildlife

Answer 1

1. Project Tiger :

The Government of India has taken a pioneering initiative for conserving its national animal, the tiger, by launching the ‘Project Tiger’ in 1973. From 9 tiger reserves since its formative years, the Project Tiger coverage has increased to 44 at present, spread out in 17 of our tiger range states. This amounts to around 2.08% of the geographical area of our country. 

The tiger reserves are constituted on a core/buffer strategy. The core areas have the legal status of a national park or a sanctuary, whereas the buffer or peripheral areas are a mix of forest and non-forest land, managed as a multiple use area.

The Project Tiger aims to foster an exclusive tiger agenda in the core areas of tiger reserves, with an inclusive people oriented agenda in the buffer.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is a statutory body of the Ministry, with an overarching supervisory / coordination role, performing functions as provided in the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

The main objective of Project Tiger is to ensure a viable population of tiger in India for scientific, economic, aesthetic, cultural and ecological values and to preserve for all time, areas of biological importance as a natural heritage for the benefit, education and enjoyment of the people. Main objectives under the scheme include wildlife management, protection measures and site specific eco-development to reduce the dependency of local communities on tiger reserve resources.

Project Tiger has put the tiger on an assured course of recovery from the brink of extinction, and has resurrected the floral and faunal genetic diversity in some of our unique and endangered wilderness ecosystem. The population of tigers in the country has increased significantly to about 4000 from less than 2000 at the time of launch of the project.

100% central assistance is provided to 38 tiger reserves.

With effective from 2007, National tiger conservation authority (NTCA) was constituted for tiger conservation.

"In principal" approval has been accorded by the NTCA for creation of four new tiger reserves: Biligiri Ranganatha swamy temple sanctuary (K.N), Pilibhit (U.P), Ratapani (M.P) and Mukundara hills (Rajasthan).

During tiger census of 2008, a new methodology using extrapolating site specific densities of tigers, their co-predators and prey derived from camera trap and sign survey using GIS was introduced.

Encompassing an area of 3,568 sq km spread over five districts of Andhra Pradesh, Nagarjunasagar- Srisailam Tiger Reserve(NSTR)is India’s largest Tiger Reserve.
2)  Project Elephant :

Project Elephant (PE), a centrally sponsored scheme, was launched in February 1992 to provide financial and technical support to major elephant bearing States in the country for protection of elephants, their habitats and corridors. 

It also seeks to address the issues of human-elephant conflict and welfare of domesticated elephants. The Project is being implemented in 13 States / UTs , viz. Andhra Pradesh , Arunachal Pradesh , Assam , Jharkhand , Karnataka , Kerala , Meghalaya , Nagaland ,Orissa ,Tamil Nadu , Uttaranchal ,Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

There are only 17 states in which elephants exist in the wild state. Project Elephant has declared 24 elephant reserves in 12 states to protect elephant populations in the wild and develop their habitat. It was launched in the year 1991-92 as a sequel to a series of efforts to conserve this magnificent species covering primarily twelve states of India.
3. Project Snow Leopard:

Project Snow Leopard is a manifestation of the Government of India’s resolve to conserve biodiversity with community participation. To give it the same status of importance in the high altitude as that of Tiger in the terrestrial landscape the ministry has launched the Project Snow Leopard in the country in 2009. It is an Indian initiative for strengthening wildlife conservation in the Himalayan high altitudes. It aims to promote a knowledge-based and adaptive conservation framework that fully involves the local communities, who share the snow leopard’s range, in conservation efforts.

GOAL: To safeguard and conserve India’s unique natural heritage of high altitude wildlife populations and their habitats by promoting conservation through participatory policies and actions.

Snow Leopard is globally endangered species as well as the most important flagship species of the mountain region. They are at the apex of ecological pyramid suffer the most on account of relatively smaller population size and also because of man-animal conflict. This situation further gets aggravated by the hostile landscape forming its habitat. Referring to its globally endangered species status as well as the most important flagship species of the mountain region.

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