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 espective 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.
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