Project Tiger

Background: 

• In Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand, Project Tiger was first launched on April 1, 1973, with the goal of saving tigers.
• By adding enabling provisions to the Wild Life (Protection) Act of 1972 through an amendment known as the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act of 2006, Project Tiger was granted statutory authority (NTCA).
• India’s first tiger reserve was the Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand.

Project Tiger’s objectives

• To ensure the survival of India’s tiger population for scientific, economic, cultural, and aesthetic reasons.
• To identify and mitigate factors causing tiger habitat loss through appropriate management practises.

Tiger Reserves

• The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) oversees Project Tiger, which is in charge of 53 tiger reserves in India.
• 80% of the tigers in the world are found in India.

National Tiger Conservation Authority

• The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, as amended in 2006, established the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change, to strengthen tiger conservation in accordance with the powers and functions delegated to it by the Act.
• The State Government is required to designate a region as a tiger reserve upon the advice of the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
• The supreme authority is in charge of overseeing “Project Tiger.”
• In reaction to the recommendations made by the Tiger Task Force, the NTCA was founded in 2005.
• The authority is comprised of the Minister in charge of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (as Chairperson), the Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment and Forests (as Vice-Chairperson), three members of Parliament, the Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests, and other members.
• The NTCA also conducts a country-level assessment of the status of tigers, co-predators, prey, and habitat once every four years, using the Tiger Task Force-approved methodology.

Tiger Population Estimates

• The All-India Tiger Estimation 2018-19, the results of the Tiger Census, show that there are now 2,967 tigers overall, up from 2,226 in 2014.
• The states with the highest number of tigers were Madhya Pradesh (526), Karnataka (524), and Uttarakhand (442).
• Growth in the tiger population: Karnataka (29%), Maharashtra (64%), and Madhya Pradesh (71%).
• The largest tiger reserve is in Uttarakhand’s Corbett Tiger Reserve.
• No tigers have been sighted in the reserves of Dampa (Mizoram), Palamau (Jharkhand), or Buxa (West Bengal).
• Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve (Andhra Pradesh, Telangana) is the largest tiger reserve in India.
• The Bor Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra is the smallest tiger reserve in India.
• The “corebuffer strategy” is used to define tiger reserves, and it consists of the following: 
  1. core zone
  2.  buffer zone

Core Zone (critical wildlife habitats):

Notification of these areas is made by the State Government after consulting with an Expert Committee that was established specifically for that purpose. The Central Government declares these areas, which are kept free of biotic disturbances and forestry operations. Minor forest produce collection, grazing, and human disturbances are prohibited within the core area.

Buffer Area: 

The area around the core area or critical tiger habitat that offers space for human activity coexisting while also serving as additional habitat for tigers to disperse. The Gramme Sabha, an expert committee appointed for that purpose, and scientific and objective standards are consulted in determining the boundaries of the buffer/peripheral areas.