Lok Sabha Question No. 402 (STARRED), answered on 2018-03-23
Subject: Tiger Conservation Areas
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: NARANBHAI KACHHADIA, SUNIL BALIRAM GAIKWAD

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *402

TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.03.2018

## Tiger Conservation Areas

## *402.  SHRI NARANBHAI KACHHADIYA: DR. SUNIL BALIRAM GAIKWAD:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  as  per  a  survey  released  by  the  Conservation  Assured/Tiger  Standards (CA/TS), at least a third of the 112 tiger conservation areas across 11 countries are severely at risk of losing their tigers and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the details of the areas mentioned in the said survey along with the reasons mentioned for the loss of tigers/risk of losing tigers;
- (c) the assessment made by CA/TS in their survey on India regarding the conservation of tigers;
- (d) the details of the schemes implemented so far along with the funds provided/spent by the  Government  on  protection  of  tigers  during  each  of  the  last  three  years  and  the current year, State/UT-wise; and
- (e) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to meet the global standards on tiger conservation in the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

(DR. HARSH VARDHAN)

(a), (b), (c), (d) & (e) :A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

***

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a), (b), (c), (d) & (e) OF THE LOK  SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  *402  ON  TIGER  CONSERVATION AREAS DUE FOR REPLY ON 23.03.2018

- (a) Yes.  The said survey has suggested that 35% of sites are at risk of serious declines in or even loss of their tigers
- (b) As per the Conservation Assured | Tiger Standards (CA|TS) survey, percent average  scores  for  assessing  management  have  been  presented  regionally  as East  Asia  (China  and  Russia),  South  Asia  (Bangladesh,  Bhutan,  Nepal  and India)  and  South  East  Asia  (Cambodia,  Indonesia,  Malaysia,  Myanmar  and Thailand).    A  score  of  75%  and  above  has  been  interpreted  as  fairly  strong management.    Only  39  sites  out  of  the  112  sites  surveyed  have  a  score  of below 75% and 20 of these sites are in South-East Asia.  The reasons stated for threat to tigers are as follows:
- (i) Lack  of  adequate  management  infrastructure  to  support  staff activities.
- (ii) Insufficient staff to patrol sites effectively.
- (iii) Lack of management planning.
- (iv) Lack of systems for mitigating human-wildlife conflict.
- (v) Lack  of  active  tiger  and  prey  habitat  management  systems which inter alia includes tiger monitoring.
- (vi) Inadequately addressed social aspects of conservation.
- (c) In context of India, following observations have been made:
- i. All sites surveyed in India have management plan.
- ii. 49 out of 50 tiger reserve have a score ranging from 82%-100%.
- iii. Forest  outside  tiger  reserves  (where  intensity  of  tiger  conservation specific management is far less intensive) scored between 57% to 88%.
- iv. The  Indian  Management  Effectiveness  Evaluation  of  tiger  reserves (MEETR) has been highlighted as a specially designed tool  for tiger conservation areas under the Protected Areas Management Effectiveness (PAME).
- v. Project  Tiger  has  been  highlighted  as  an  investment  in  the  effective management of tiger conservation areas for many decades, besides a concerted effort to recover tigers in India based on the need to provide safe havens through a network of tiger reserves.
- vi. Out of the 72 sites surveyed in India only 17 were found to be below 75%  benchmark. This included only one tiger reserve namely Indravati,  which  is  plagued  by  left  wing  extremism  which  hampers day-to-day management.
- vii. 7  sites,  largely  forest  divisions  were  between  51%-61%:  5  were between 61%-70% and 4 were between 71%-74%.
- (d) The CA|TS assessment is not funded by the Government of India.  However, under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Project Tiger, the Government has

released the following amount to tiger range States during the last three years and the current year:

(Rs. in lakhs)

| Sl. No.   | State             | 2014-15   |    2015-16 |   2016-17 |   2017-18 (as on 19.03.2018) |
|-----------|-------------------|-----------|------------|-----------|------------------------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh    | 184.141   |     0      |   173.486 |                      232.49  |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh | 658.4260  |   429.539  |   597.289 |                      641.943 |
| 3         | Assam             | 1509.389  |  1425.41   |  1510.92  |                     1973.63  |
| 4         | Bihar             | 317.096   |   223.551  |   487.838 |                      552.273 |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh      | 609.827   |   398.945  |   626.567 |                     1315.08  |
| 6         | Jharkhand         | 199.08    |    47.9847 |   323.762 |                      338.62  |
| 7         | Karnataka         | 1565.7726 |  1378.19   |  3203.61  |                     2263.85  |
| 8         | Kerala            | 517.5351  |   396.601  |   780.231 |                      636.412 |
| 9         | Madhya Pradesh    | 4335.1182 |  1421.01   | 12885.6   |                     7827.64  |
| 10        | Maharashtra       | 3425.5241 |  3923.08   |  8229.72  |                     6419.16  |
| 11        | Mizoram           | 232.1896  |   187.984  |   301.548 |                      215.316 |
| 12        | Odisha            | 707.3885  |   544.801  |   917.167 |                     1604.43  |
| 13        | Rajasthan         | 627.192   |  1257.81   |   381.302 |                      773.09  |
| 14        | Tamil Nadu        | 864.316   |  1950.17   |   949.869 |                     2551.06  |
| 15        | Telangana         | -         |   214.819  |   239.259 |                      294.04  |
| 16        | Uttarakhand       | 391.19    |   683.985  |  1023.4   |                     1166.44  |
| 17        | Uttar Pradesh     | 760.9283  |   624.546  |  1057.05  |                      820.024 |
| 18        | West Bengal       | 596.8825  |   376.508  |   536.141 |                      570.74  |
|           | Total             | 17502.000 | 15484.9    | 34224.8   |                    30196.2   |

(e) Several  milestone  initiatives  have  been  taken  by  the  Government  of  India through  the  National  Tiger  Conservation  Authority  for  conservation  and protection of tiger and other wild animals and the same are at Annexure-I .

***

## ANNEXURE-I

## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (e) OF  THE  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *402 ON TIGER CONSERVATION AREAS DUE FOR REPLY ON 23.03.2018

Milestone initiatives taken by the Government of India through the National Tiger Conservation Authority for conservation and protection of tiger and other wild animals

## Legal steps

1. Amendment  of  the  Wild  Life  (Protection)  Act,  1972  in  2006  to  provide  enabling provisions for constituting the National Tiger Conservation Authority under section 38 IV B and the Tiger and Other Endangered Species Crime Control Bureau under section 38 IV C.
2. Enhancement of punishment for offence in relation to the core area of a tiger reserve or where the offence relate to hunting in the tiger reserves or altering the boundaries of tiger reserves, etc.
3. Comprehensive guidelines under section 38O 1 (c) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 issued for Project Tiger and Tourism in Tiger Reserves on 15 th October, 2012.

## Administrative steps

4. Constitution of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) with effect from the 4 th September, 2006, for strengthening tiger conservation by, interalia, ensuring normative standards  in  tiger  reserve  management,  preparation  of  reserve  specific  tiger  conservation plan,  laying  down  annual  audit  report  before  Parliament,  constituting  State  level  Steering Committees  under  the Chairmanship  of  Chief Ministers and establishment of Tiger Conservation Foundation.
5. Constitution  of  a  multidisciplinary  Tiger  and  Other  Endangered  Species  Crime Control  Bureau  (Wildlife  Crime  Control  Bureau)  with  effect  from  the  6 th June,  2007  to effectively control illegal trade in wildlife.
6. Strengthening  of  antipoaching  activities,  including  special  strategy  for  monsoon patrolling,  by  providing  funding  support  to  tiger  reserve  States,  as  proposed  by  them,  for deployment of antipoaching squads involving ex-army personnel or home guards, apart from workforce  comprising  of  local  people,  in  addition  to  strengthening  of  communication  and wireless facilities.
7. In-principle approval has been accorded by the National Tiger Conservation Authority for creation of new tiger reserves, and the sites are: Ratapani (Madhya Pradesh), Sunabeda (Odisha) and Guru Ghasidas (Chhattisgarh).  The State Governments have been advised to send  proposals  for  declaring  the  following  areas  as  tiger  reserves:  (i)  Suhelwa  Wildlife Sanctuary (Uttar Pradesh), (ii) Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary (Goa), (iii) Srivilliputhur Grizzled Giant  Squirrel  /  Megamalai  Wildlife  Sanctuaries  /  Varushanadu  Valley  (Tamil  Nadu),  (iv) Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary (Arunachal Pradesh), (v) Cauveri-MM Hills Wildlife Sanctuary (Karnataka) and (vi) Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary (Uttarakhand).
8. Rajaji  National  Park  (Uttarakhand),  Orang  National  Park  (Assam)  &  Kamlang Wildlife  Sanctuary  (Arunachal  Pradesh)  have  been  declared  /  notified  as  48 th ,  49 th &  50 th

Tiger  Reserves.    Besides  the  recently  notified  tiger  reserves  include:  Kawal  (Telangana), Sathyamangalam (Tamil Nadu), Mukandra Hills (Rajasthan), Nawegaon-Nagzira (Maharashtra), Amrabad (erstwhile Nagarjunasagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve portion) (Telangana), Pilibhit (Uttar Pradesh) and Bor (Maharashtra).

9. The  revised  Project  Tiger  guidelines  have  been  issued  to  State  Governments  for strengthening  tiger  conservation,  which  apart  from  ongoing  activities,  inter  alia,  include financial support to States for enhanced village relocation or rehabilitation package for people living in core or critical tiger habitats (from Rs. 1 lakh per family to Rs. 10 lakhs per family), rehabilitation or resettlement of communities involved in traditional hunting, mainstreaming livelihood  and  wildlife  concerns  in  forests  outside  tiger  reserves  and  fostering  corridor conservation through restorative strategy to arrest habitat fragmentation.
10. A scientific  methodology  for  estimating  tiger  (including  co-predators,  prey  animals and assessment of habitat status) has been evolved and mainstreamed.  The findings of this estimation and assessment are bench marks for future tiger conservation strategy.
11. The 18 tiger States have notified the core/critical tiger habitat (40145.30 sq. km.), and the buffer/peripheral area (31362.45 sq.km.) of all the 50 tiger reserves in the country, under section 38V of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, as amended in 2006.
12.        Regional  Offices  of  the  National  Tiger  Conservation  Authority  are  operational  at Nagpur, Bengaluru and Guwahati headed by an Inspector General of Forests.

## Financial steps

13. Financial  and  technical  help  is  provided  to  the  State  Governments  under  various Centrally  Sponsored  Schemes,  such  as  'Project  Tiger'  and  'Integrated  Development  of Wildlife Habitats' for enhancing the capacity and infrastructure of the State Governments for providing effective protection to wild animals.

## International Cooperation

14. India has a bilateral  understanding with Nepal on controlling trans-boundary illegal trade in wildlife and conservation, apart from a protocol on tiger conservation with China.
15. A protocol has been signed in September, 2011 with Bangladesh for conservation of the Royal Bengal Tiger of the Sunderban.
16. A sub-group on tiger and leopard conservation has been constituted for cooperation with the Russian Federation.
17. India is the founder member of the Global Tiger Forum of Tiger Range Countries for addressing international issues related to tiger conservation.
18. During the 14 th meeting of the Conference of Parties to CITES, which was held from 3 rd to  15 th June, 2007 at The Hague, India introduced a resolution along with China, Nepal and  the  Russian  Federation,  with  direction  to  Parties  with  operations  breeding  tigers  on  a commercial  scale,  for  restricting  such  captive  populations  to  a  level  supportive  only  to conserving wild tigers.  The resolution was adopted as a decision with minor amendments. Further,  India  made  an  intervention  appealing  to  China  to  phase  out  tiger  farming  and

eliminate  stockpiles  of  Asian  big  cats  body  parts  and  derivatives.    The  importance  of continuing the ban on trade of body parts of tigers was emphasized.

19. Based  on  India's  strong  intervention  during  the  62 nd meeting  of  the  Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) at Geneva from 23-27 July, 2012, the Convention on International Trade in  Endangered  Species  of  Wild  Fauna  and  Flora  Secretariat  has  issued  a  notification  No. 2012/054  dated  the  3 rd September,  2012  to  Parties  to  fully  implement  Decision  14.69  and report  to  the  Secretariat  by  25  September,  2012  (Progress  made  on  restricting  captive breeding operations of tigers etc.).
20. The 3 rd Asia Ministerial Conference (3 AMC) was organized in New Delhi from 12-14 April  2016.    Inspired by the statement of Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, during this conference that 'conservation of  tigers is not a choice, it is an imperative', to achieve the concrete results  of  ensuring  the  conservation  of  tigers  in  the  wild  and  their  habitats  by  2022,  the representatives of the Governments of the Tiger Range Countries resolved to:
3.  Accelerate implementation of the Global Tiger Recovery Programme (GTRP)/National Tiger Recovery Programme (NTRP) and agreed actions from the  above-mentioned declarations, review and update priority and differentiated action  plans,  and  track  progress  through  mutual  and  systematic  reporting  and evaluation.
4.  Align  development  and  tiger  conservation in  a  mutually  complementary manner by  re-orienting  development  strategies  to  mainstream  the  concerns  of tiger  conservation,  such  as  by  integrating  tiger  and  wildlife  safeguards  in infrastructure  at  the  landscape  level,  developing  partnerships  with  business groups, and strong engagement with local stakeholders.
5.  Leverage  funding  and  technical  support from  international  organisations, bilateral and multilateral financial institutions, foundations, civil society organisations, private sector, and climate funds, in addition to TRC governments.
6.  Recognise and enhance the importance of tiger habitats  by promoting them as providing ecosystem services, as engines of economic growth and helping to address climate   change.
7.  Emphasize recovery  of  tiger  populations  in  areas  with  low  tiger  densities and  restoration  in  areas from  which  they  have  been  extirpated  by  using successful  programs  of tiger  reintroduction  and  rehabilitation  of  their  habitats and prey.
8.  Strengthen  co-operation  at  the  highest  levels  of  government to  combat wildlife crime,  address  the  demand for tiger  products, and increase formal and informal transboundary coordination.
9.  Enhance knowledge sharing and capacity development for all stakeholders and increase the use  of  technology , including smart tools, monitoring protocols, and information systems, to  improve management effectiveness.

## OTHER MISCELLANEOUS STEPS

21. Creation of Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF): -The Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF) has been made operational in the States of Karnataka (Bandipur), Maharashtra (Pench, Tadoba-Andhari, Nawegaon-Nagzira), Rajasthan (Ranthambhore) and Odisha
2. (Similipal), out of 13 initially selected tiger reserves, with 60% central assistance under the ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Project Tiger.
22. In  collaboration  with  TRAFFIC-INDIA,  an online  tiger  mortality  data  base has been launched, and Generic Guidelines for preparation of reserve specific Security Plan has been evolved.
23. Implementing a tripartite  Memorandum of Understanding  (MOU) with tiger  States, linked to fund flows for effective implementation of tiger conservation initiatives.
24. Steps taken for modernizing the infrastructure and field protection, besides launching 'Monitoring system for Tigers' Intensive Protection and Ecological Status (M-STrIPES)' for effective field patrolling and monitoring.
25. Steps  taken  for  no-cost  involvement  of  Non-Governmental  Experts  in  the  all  India tiger estimation.
26. Initiatives  taken  for  improving  the  field  delivery  through  capacity  building  of  field officials, apart from providing incentives.
27. As a part of active management to rebuild Sariska and Panna Tiger Reserves where tigers have become locally extinct, reintroduction of tigers and tigresses have been done.  The successful reintroduction of wild tigers in Sariska is a unique exercise and is the first of its kind in the world. The reintroduced tigresses are breeding.  The tiger reintroduction initiative at Panna (MP) has been very successful.
28. Special advisories issued for in-situ build up of prey base and tiger population through active management in tiger reserves having low population status of tiger and its prey.
29. All  India  Tiger,  Co-predators  and  Prey  Estimation,  2014:The  third  round  of country  level  tiger  status  assessment  completed  in  2014,  with  the  findings  indicating  an increase  with  a  tiger  population  estimate  of  2226  (lower  and  upper  limits  being  1945  and 2491 respectively), as compared to the last country level estimation of 2010, with an estimate of  1706  (lower  and  upper  limits  being  1520-1909  tigers),  and  2006  estimation,  with  an estimate of 1411 (lower and upper limits being 1165 and 1657).  At present, India has around 70%  of  tiger  population  and  its  source  areas  amongst  the  13  tiger  range  countries  in  the world, owing to its long history of conserving the species through Project Tiger (2.21% of country's geographical area spread out in 50 tiger reserves in 18 States).
30. Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) : A report on Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) of Tiger Reserves was released on January, 2015, containing the third round of independent assessment based on refined criteria done in 2013-14 for 43 tiger reserves.  Out of 43 tiger reserves, 17 were rated as 'very good', 16 as 'good' and 10 as 'fair'.
31. Providing  special  assistance  for  mitigation  of  human-tiger  conflicts  in  problematic areas.

## Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

32. A 'Standard Operating Procedure' for dealing with tiger deaths has been issued, based on  advisories  of  Project  Tiger  /  National  Tiger  Conservation  Authority,  with  inputs  from Wildlife  Crime  Control  Bureau,  State  officials  and  experts,  fine  tuned  to  meet  the  present challenges.
33. A  'Standard Operating Procedure'  for dealing with straying tigers  in  human dominated landscape has been issued.
34. A 'Standard Operating Procedure' for disposing tiger/leopard carcass/body parts has been issued.
35. A Standard Operating Procedure has been issued to deal with orphaned / abandoned tiger cubs and old / injured tigers in the wild.
36. A 'Standard Operating Procedure' has been issued to deal with tiger depredation on livestock.
37. A 'Standard Operating Procedure' for Interstate Co-ordination amongst tiger reserves that share boundary was issued by the NTCA.
38. A 'Standard  Operating  Procedure'  has  been  issued  for  active  management  towards rehabilitation of tigers from source areas at landscape level.
39. A  'Standard  Operating  Procedure'  has  been  issued  for  interstate  co-ordination  for interstate tiger reserves.
40. Launching  of  Phase-IV  tiger  reserve  level,  continuous  monitoring  of  tigers  using camera traps and building up data on photo captures of individual tigers.
41. Launching the creation of a national repository of camera trap photo IDs of individual tigers.
42. In-principle approval for use of CAMPA funds towards village relocation from core areas.
43. Under active management, permission accorded for translocation of wilded / straying tigers / tigresses from high to low density reserves within States.
44. Field  level  workshops  for  capacity  building  of  field  officers  to  deal  with  straying tigers.

## Recent Steps

45. On  completion  of  e-surveillance  project  in  Corbett  Tiger  Reserve  (Uttarakhand), central assistance (100%) has been provided for installing 24X7 e-surveillance at Kaziranga Tiger Reserve (Assam) and fringe of Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary (Madhya Pradesh).
46. Economic  Valuation  of  six  tiger  reserves done  in  collaboration  with  the  Indian Institute of Forest Management.  Similar exercise is being done for 10 more tiger reserves.
47. Trial of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for monitoring done in the Panna Tiger Reserve (Madhya  Pradesh),  in  collaboration  with  the  Wildlife  Institute  of  India  and  now  getting extended to 13 other tiger reserves too.
48. Assessment  of  Status,  Density  and  Change  in  Forest  Cover  in  and  around  tiger reserves  of  the  Shivalik  Gangetic  Plain  Landscape  done  in  collaboration  with  the  Forest Survey of India.
49. A  Rhino  Task  Force  has  suggested  measures  to  strengthen  rhino  protection  in  the Kaziranga Tiger Reserve.
50. In-principle  approval  has  been  accorded  for  creation  of  Rhino  Protection  Force  at Kaziranga Tiger Reserve.
51. Supporting a health insurance scheme for forest guards in Kaziranga Tiger Reserve.
52. Fostering a voluntary group 'Friends for Rhino' for eliciting public support for rhino conservation with active local participation around Kaziranga Tiger Reserve.
53. A joint report with Nepal and Bangladesh has been brought out on the assessment of tiger status in the terai arc landscape.
54. Initiative  taken  for  collaboration  of  National  Tiger  Conservation  Authority  and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau towards an online tiger / wildlife crime tracking / reporting system in tiger reserves.
55. Based  on  International  standards,  security  audit  framework  of  the  NTCA  has  been validated for implementing across all tiger reserves.  25 tiger reserves have been identified for assessment of their security protocols through this framework.
56. To assess status of tiger bearing areas outside tiger reserves, the CA|TS (Conservation Assured|Tiger  Standards)  framework  is  being  used,  which  helps  identify  inadequacies  in management interventions in such areas so that gaps can be addressed through appropriate strategies.

***