Lok Sabha Question No. 29 (STARRED), answered on 2016-07-19
Subject: Tiger Reserves
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: DHANANJAY BHIMRAO MAHADIK, RAJEEV SHANKARRAO SATAV

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

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *29

TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.07.2016

## Tiger Reserves

## *29. SHRI DHANANJAY MAHADIK: SHRI SATAV RAJEEV:

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

- (a) the details of tiger reserves in the country at present;
- (b) whether  the  National  Tiger  Conservation  Authority  has  released  funds  for  some reserves only for 'Project Tiger', and if so, the details thereof during the last three years and the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether there has been some delay in release of funds to tiger reserves in the country and if so, the reasons therefor along with the norms fixed for such releases;
- (d) whether the delay in release of funds has affected conservation efforts to some extent besides encouraging poaching; and
- (e) if  so,  the  corrective steps taken/being taken by the Government in this regard along with  the  other  steps  taken  by  the  Government  for  the  protection  of  tigers  in  the country?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

(SHRI ANIL MADHAV DAVE)

(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. *29 ON TIGER RESERVES DUE FOR REPLY ON 19.07.2016

- (a) As  on  date,  there  are  49  tiger  reserves  in  the  country  and  their  details,  are  at Annexure-I.
- (b) Funding  assistance  is  given  to  all  the  tiger  States  /  tiger  reserves  under  the Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  of  Project  Tiger  based  on  their  Annual  Plan  of Operations.  So  far,  funds  have  been  released  to  18  tiger  reserves  during  the current  financial  year  2016-17  and  others  are  in  progress.    Funding  assistance under  the  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  of  Project  Tiger  given  to  tiger  reserves during the last three years and in the current year so far is at Annexure-II.
- (c) No  Sir.    There  is  no  delay  as  such  in  release  of  funds  to  tiger  reserves  in  the country.    The  National  Tiger  Conservation  Authority  (NTCA)  provides  funding assistance to tiger reserves under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Project Tiger based on the  Annual Plan of Operations (APOs), submitted by the States.  The said  APOs  are  required  to  be  in  conformity  with  the  prescriptions  of  the  Tiger Conservation  Plan  duly  approved  and  guidelines  issued  by  the  NTCA.    The physical and financial progress report along with the utilization certificate of the amount  /  fund  released  during  the  previous  year,  besides  fulfillment  of  other mandatory conditions as stipulated in the sanction order as well as compliance of Tripartite Memorandum of Understanding are also required to be submitted with the proposed Annual Plan of Operation.  The APOs, complete in all respects, are then  scrutinized  and  processed  at  the  NTCA  and  Integrated  Finance  Division (IFD)  of  the  Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  and  Climate  Change.    Due  to shortcomings in the proposals (APOs), submitted by the States, processing of the same becomes time taking at times. A web-based application software for online submission of APOs has been developed in consultations with NIC which is going to  be  used  from  next  year.    The  said  web-based  application  will  curtail  the processing time.
- (d) & (e) No Sir.  To meet out the exigencies, there are Tiger Conservation Foundations as per the statutory provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, established in almost all tiger reserves which takes care of expenditure incurred in the meantime. Besides, proposals for providing funding assistance to rest of the tiger reserves are at different stages of processing.

Several  milestone  initiatives  have  been  taken  by  the  Government  of  India through the National Tiger Conservation Authority for protection and conservation of tigers and other wild animals, and the same is at Annexure-III.

## ANNEXURE-I

## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  OF  THE LOK  SABHA STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  *29  ON  TIGER  RESERVES  DUE  FOR  REPLY  ON 19.07.2016.

## Details of Tiger Reserves in India

|   Sl. No. | Year of creation   | Name of Tiger Reserve           | State             | Area of the core / critical tiger habitat (In Sq. Kms.)   |   Area of the buffer / peripheral (In Sq. Kms.) |   Total area (In Sq.Kms.) |
|-----------|--------------------|---------------------------------|-------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|---------------------------|
|         1 | 1973-74            | Bandipur                        | Karnataka         | 872.24                                                    |                                         584.06  |                  1456.3   |
|         2 | 1973-74            | Corbett                         | Uttarakhand       | 821.99                                                    |                                         466.32  |                  1288.31  |
|         2 | 1973-74            | Amangarh (buffer of Corbett TR) | Uttar Pradesh     | -                                                         |                                          80.6   |                    80.6   |
|         3 | 1973-74            | Kanha                           | Madhya Pradesh    | 917.43                                                    |                                        1134.36  |                  2051.79  |
|         4 | 1973-74            | Manas                           | Assam             | 840.04                                                    |                                        2310.88  |                  3150.92  |
|         5 | 1973-74            | Melghat                         | Maharashtra       | 1500.49                                                   |                                        1268.03  |                  2768.52  |
|         6 | 1973-74            | Palamau                         | Jharkhand         | 414.08                                                    |                                         715.85  |                  1129.93  |
|         7 | 1973-74            | Ranthambore                     | Rajasthan         | 1113.364                                                  |                                         297.926 |                  1411.29  |
|         8 | 1973-74            | Similipal                       | Odisha            | 1194.75                                                   |                                        1555.25  |                  2750     |
|         9 | 1973-74            | Sunderbans                      | West Bengal       | 1699.62                                                   |                                         885.27  |                  2584.89  |
|        10 | 1978-79            | Periyar                         | Kerala            | 881.00                                                    |                                          44     |                   925     |
|        11 | 1978-79            | Sariska                         | Rajasthan         | 881.1124                                                  |                                         332.23  |                  1213.34  |
|        12 | 1982-83            | Buxa                            | West Bengal       | 390.5813                                                  |                                         367.322 |                   757.904 |
|        13 | 1982-83            | Indravati                       | Chhattisgarh      | 1258.37                                                   |                                        1540.7   |                  2799.07  |
|        14 | 1982-83            | Namdapha                        | Arunachal Pradesh | 1807.82                                                   |                                         245     |                  2052.82  |
|        15 | 1987-88            | Dudhwa                          | Uttar Pradesh     | 1093.79                                                   |                                        1107.98  |                  2201.77  |
|        16 | 1988-89            | Kalakad-Mundanthurai            | Tamil Nadu        | 895.00                                                    |                                         706.542 |                  1601.54  |
|        17 | 1989-90            | Valmiki                         | Bihar             | 598.45                                                    |                                         300.93  |                   899.38  |
|        18 | 1992-93            | Pench                           | Madhya Pradesh    | 411.33                                                    |                                         768.302 |                  1179.63  |
|        19 | 1993-94            | Tadoba-Andhari                  | Maharashtra       | 625.82                                                    |                                        1101.77  |                  1727.59  |
|        20 | 1993-94            | Bandhavgarh                     | Madhya Pradesh    | 716.903                                                   |                                         820.035 |                  1536.94  |
|        21 | 1994-95            | Panna                           | Madhya Pradesh    | 576.13                                                    |                                        1021.97  |                  1598.1   |
|        22 | 1994-95            | Dampa                           | Mizoram           | 500.00                                                    |                                         488     |                   988     |
|        23 | 1998-99            | Bhadra                          | Karnataka         | 492.46                                                    |                                         571.83  |                  1064.29  |
|        24 | 1998-99            | Pench                           | Maharashtra       | 257.26                                                    |                                         483.96  |                   741.22  |
|        25 | 1999-2000          | Pakke                           | Arunachal Pradesh | 683.45                                                    |                                         515     |                  1198.45  |
|        26 | 1999-2000          | Nameri                          | Assam             | 320.00                                                    |                                         144     |                   464     |
|        27 | 1999-2000          | Satpura                         | Madhya Pradesh    | 1339.264                                                  |                                         794.044 |                  2133.31  |
|        28 | 2008-2009          | Anamalai                        | Tamil Nadu        | 958.59                                                    |                                         521.28  |                  1479.87  |
|        29 | 2008-2009          | Udanti-Sitanadi                 | Chattisgarh       | 851.09                                                    |                                         991.45  |                  1842.54  |
|        30 | 2008-2009          | Satkosia                        | Odisha            | 523.61                                                    |                                         440.26  |                   963.87  |
|        31 | 2008-2009          | Kaziranga                       | Assam             | 625.58                                                    |                                         548     |                  1173.58  |
|        32 | 2008-2009          | Achanakmar                      | Chattisgarh       | 626.195                                                   |                                         287.822 |                   914.017 |
|        33 | 2008-2009          | Dandeli-Anshi                   | Karnataka         | 814.884                                                   |                                         282.63  |                  1097.51  |

<!-- image -->

| 34   | 2008-2009        | Sanjay-Dubri               | Madhya Pradesh   |   812.571 | 861.931   |   1674.502 |
|------|------------------|----------------------------|------------------|-----------|-----------|------------|
| 35   | 2008-2009        | Mudumalai                  | Tamil Nadu       |   321     | 367.59    |    688.59  |
| 36   | 2008-2009        | Nagarahole                 | Karnataka        |   643.35  | 562.41    |   1205.76  |
| 37   | 2008-2009        | Parambikulam               | Kerala           |   390.89  | 252.772   |    643.662 |
| 38   | 2009-2010        | Sahyadri                   | Maharashtra      |   600.12  | 565.45    |   1165.57  |
| 39   | 2010-2011        | Biligiri Ranganatha Temple | Karnataka        |   359.1   | 215.72    |    574.82  |
| 40   | 2012-2013        | Kawal                      | Telangana        |   892.23  | 1123.212  |   2015.44  |
| 41   | 2013-2014        | Sathyamangalam             | Tamil Nadu       |   793.49  | 614.91    |   1408.4   |
| 42   | 2013-2014        | Mukandra Hills             | Rajasthan        |   417.17  | 342.82    |    759.99  |
| 43   | 2013-2014        | Nawegaon-Nagzira           | Maharashtra      |   653.674 | -         |    653.674 |
| 44   | 1982-83          | Nagarjunsagar Srisailam    | Andhra Pradesh   |  2595.72  | 700.59    |   3296.31  |
| 45   | 2014             | Amrabad                    | Telangana        |  2166.37  | 445.02    |   2611.39  |
| 46   | 2014             | Pilibhit                   | Uttar Pradesh    |   602.798 | 127.4518  |    730.25  |
| 47   | 2014             | Bor                        | Maharashtra      |   138.12  | 678.15    |    816.27  |
| 48   | 2015             | Rajaji                     | Uttarakhand      |   819.54  | 255.63    |   1075.17  |
| 49   | 2016 (24.2.2016) | Orang                      | Assam            |    79.28  | 413.18    |    492.46  |
|      |                  | TOTAL                      |                  | 39788.1   | 31250.45  |  71038.6   |

***

## ANNEXURE-II

## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (b)  OF  THE LOK  SABHA STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  *29  ON  TIGER  RESERVES  DUE  FOR  REPLY  ON 19.07.2016.

## Funding assistance under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Project Tiger given to tiger reserves during the last three years and in the current year

(Rs. in Lakhs)

| Tiger Reserve              | States            |   2013-14 |   2014-15 |   2015-16 |   2016-17 |
|----------------------------|-------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| Nagarjunsagar              | Andhra Pradesh    |  121.35   |   131.661 |    0      |     0     |
| Kawal                      | Andhra Pradesh    |   90.43   |    52.48  |    0      |     0     |
| Namdhapa                   | Arunachal Pradesh |  324.184  |   289.209 |  184.439  |   225.569 |
| Pakke                      | Arunachal Pradesh |  412.857  |   369.217 |  245.1    |     0     |
| Kaziranga                  | Assam             |  708.906  |  1136.66  | 1025.13   |     0     |
| Manas                      | Assam             |   99.0765 |   328.199 |  259.86   |     0     |
| Nameri                     | Assam             |    0      |    44.534 |   79.542  |     0     |
| Orang                      | Assam             |    0      |     0     |   60.88   |     0     |
| Valmiki                    | Bihar             |  284.773  |   317.096 |  223.551  |   384.655 |
| Achanakmar                 | Chhattisgarh      |  255.632  |   297.267 |  184.829  |     0     |
| Indravati                  | Chhattisgarh      |   75.55   |    97.781 |  121.504  |     0     |
| Udanti-Sitanadi            | Chhattisgarh      |  208.456  |   214.779 |   92.612  |     0     |
| Palamau                    | Jharkhand         |  251.168  |   199.08  |   47.9847 |     0     |
| Bandipur                   | Karnataka         |  808.841  |   676.753 |  581.421  |   562.934 |
| Bhadra                     | Karnataka         |  306.985  |   221.995 |  196.922  |     0     |
| Dandeli Anshi (Kali)       | Karnataka         |  434.546  |   239.29  |  201.408  |   398.804 |
| Nagarhole                  | Karnataka         |  251.101  |   279.506 |  267.306  |   435.354 |
| Biligiri Ranganatha Temple | Karnataka         |  183.597  |   148.229 |  131.137  |   278.337 |
| Periyar                    | Kerala            |  271.488  |   286.584 |  226.416  |     0     |
| Parambi Kulam              | Kerala            |  208.184  |   230.951 |  170.185  |     0     |
| Bandhavgarh                | Madhya Pradesh    |  244.612  |   282.481 |  237.134  |   385.332 |
| Kanha                      | Madhya Pradesh    | 3162.2    |  2792.15  |  354.352  |   521.5   |
| Panna                      | Madhya Pradesh    |  358.348  |   348.477 |  318.046  |   283.03  |
| Pench                      | Madhya Pradesh    |  314.239  |   314.461 |  181.439  |   409.705 |
| Sanjay Dubri               | Madhya Pradesh    |  323.685  |   263.291 |  169.396  |   271.913 |
| Satpura                    | Madhya Pradesh    |  393.05   |   334.254 |  160.64   |   271.517 |

| Melghat              | Maharashtra   |   320.4880 |   2371.5512 |   2872.7568 |     0.00 |
|----------------------|---------------|------------|-------------|-------------|----------|
| Pench                | Maharashtra   |    343.44  |    346.545  |    364.313  |    0     |
| Tadoba-Andheri       | Maharashtra   |   2564.44  |    414.565  |    393.444  |    0     |
| Sahyadri             | Maharashtra   |    136.766 |    124.103  |    113.936  |    0     |
| Nawegaon-Nagzira     | Maharashtra   |      0     |    105.6    |    122.035  |    0     |
| Bor                  | Maharashtra   |      0     |     63.1604 |     56.5928 |    0     |
| Dampa                | Mizoram       |    233.68  |    232.19   |    187.984  |    0     |
| Satkosia             | Odisha        |    191.303 |    192.087  |    167.454  |  311.652 |
| Similipal            | Odisha        |    556.89  |    515.302  |    377.346  |    0     |
| Ranthambhore         | Rajasthan     |    304.52  |    260.22   |    182.12   |    0     |
| Sariska              | Rajasthan     |    208.328 |    274.35   |   1016.53   |    0     |
| Mukandara            | Rajasthan     |      0     |     92.622  |     59.155  |    0     |
| Kalakad Mundanthurai | Tamil Nadu    |    127.695 |    195.35   |    145.189  |  183.418 |
| Mudumalai            | Tamil Nadu    |    229.116 |    243.786  |   1559.49   |    0     |
| Anamalai             | Tamil Nadu    |    252.844 |    272.639  |    140.756  |  205.218 |
| Sathyamangalam       | Tamil Nadu    |    144.02  |    152.541  |    104.734  |  242.582 |
| Kawal                | Telangana     |      0     |      0      |    128.805  |    0     |
| Amrabad              | Telangana     |      0     |      0      |     86.0144 |    0     |
| Rajaji               | Uttarakhand   |      0     |      0      |    273.154  |    0     |
| Corbett              | Uttarakhand   |    377.689 |    391.194  |    410.831  |    0     |
| Buxa                 | West Bengal   |    136.47  |    205.71   |    108.732  |  206.883 |
| Sunderbans           | West Bengal   |    211.34  |    391.173  |    267.775  |    0     |
| Dudhwa               | Uttar Pradesh |    525.876 |    484.413  |    500.088  |    0     |
| Pilibhit             | Uttar Pradesh |      0     |    276.515  |    124.458  |  319.816 |
| Total                | Total         |  16958.2   |  17502      |  15484.9    | 5898.22  |

***

## ANNEXURE-III

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (d) & (e) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  *29  ON  TIGER  RESERVES  DUE  FOR  REPLY  ON 19.07.2016.

Several  milestone  initiatives  taken  by  the  Government  of  India  through  the  National Tiger Conservation Authority for protection and conservation of tigers 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. The  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 (Uttar  Pradesh),  (ii)  Mhadei  Sanctuary  (Goa),  (iii)  Srivilliputhur  Grizzled  Giant  Squirrel  / Megamalai Wildlife Sanctuaries / Varushanadu Valley (Tamil Nadu), (iv) Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary (Arunachal Pradesh) and (v) Cauveri-MM Hills (Karnataka).
8. Rajaji  National  Park  (Uttarakhand)  &  Orang  National  Park  (Assam)  have  been declared / notified as 48 th & 49 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 (39788.12 sq. km.), and the buffer/peripheral area (31250.45 sq.km.) of all the 49 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 1214 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:
8.  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.
9.  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.
10.  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.
11.  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.
12.  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.
13.  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.
14.  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  and  Tadoba-Andhari)  and  Odisha  (Similipal),  out  of  13  initially  selected  tiger reserves,  with  60%  central  assistance  under  the  ongoing  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  of Project  Tiger.    In-principle  approval  has  been  accorded  for  creation  of  the  said  force  in

Nawegoan-Nagzira, Melghat (Maharashtra), Kawal and Amrabad (erstwhile Nagarjunasagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve portion) Tiger Reserves (Telangana).

22. In  collaboration  with  TRAFFIC-INDIA, an online tiger crime 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 (2.12% of country's geographical area spread out in 49 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'  has  been  issued  for  active  management  towards rehabilitation of tigers from source areas at landscape level.
38. Launching  of  Phase-IV  tiger  reserve  level,  continuous  monitoring  of  tigers  using camera traps and building up data on photo captures of individual tigers.
39. Launching the creation of a national repository of camera trap photo IDs of individual tigers.
40. In-principle approval for use of CAMPA funds towards village relocation from core areas.
41. Under active management, permission accorded for translocation of wilded / straying tigers / tigresses from high to low density reserves within States.
42. Field  level  workshops  for  capacity  building  of  field  officers  to  deal  with  straying tigers.

## Recent Steps

43. 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).
44. 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.
45. 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 has plan to extend to other tiger reserves too.
46. 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.
47. A  Rhino  Task  Force  has  suggested  measures  to  strengthen  rhino  protection  in  the Kaziranga Tiger Reserve.
48. In-principle  approval  has  been  accorded  for  creation  of  Rhino  Protection  Force  at Kaziranga Tiger Reserve.
49. Supporting a health insurance scheme for forest guards in Kaziranga Tiger Reserve.
50. Fostering a voluntary group 'Friends for Rhino' for eliciting public support for rhino conservation with active local participation around Kaziranga Tiger Reserve.
51. Initiative  taken  for  collaboration  with  National  Remote  Sensing  Agency  (NRSA) towards evolving an alert system in tiger reserves prone to natural disasters.
52. A joint report with Nepal and Bangladesh has been brought out on the assessment of tiger status in the terai arc landscape.
53. 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.
54. Guidelines for security audit of the tiger reserves have been finalised and is getting validated.
55. Tiger  rich  areas  outside  tiger  reserves  are  being  monitored  or  bestowing  CA|TS certification.

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