Project

Introduction
Project Tiger, 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.
 Beginnings
• 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.
 Support
• 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.
 Achievements
• 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 ecodevelopment in the buffer
zones of existing tiger reserves, creation of additional tiger reserves and strengthening of
the research activities.
 Path taken…
• 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 respective State Governments.

• A 'Field Director' is appointed for each reserve, who is assisted by the field and technical
personnel. The Chief Wildlife warden 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.
 What is being done presently..
• Wireless communication system and outstation patrol camps have been developed within the
tiger reserves, due to which poaching has declined considerably.

• Fire protection is effectively done by suitable preventive and control measure Voluntary
Village relocation has been done in many reserves, especially from the core, area.

• In Kanha, Bandipur and Ranthambhore, all the villages have been shifted from the core, and
after relocation, the villagers have been provided with alternate agricultural lands and other
community benefits. This has resulted in the improvement of the carrying capacity of the
habitat. Live stock grazing has been controlled to a great extent in the tiger reserves. Various
compensatory developmental works have improved the water regime and the ground and
field level vegetations, thereby increasing the animal density.

• Research data pertaining to vegetational changes are also available from many reserves. In
general, the 'restorative management' and 'intense protection' under 'Project Tiger' have
saved many of our eco-typical areas from destruction.

• The area around the buffer is now contemplated as a zone of multiple use, to bring
compatibility between the reserves and the neighbouring communities.
 What’s planned for future…
a) Use of Information and Communication technology in Wildlife Protection and Crime Risk
Management in Tiger reserves.

Wildlife protection and crime risk management in the present scenario requires a widely
distributed Information Network, using the state-of-art Information and Communication
Technology. This becomes all the more important to ensure the desired level of protection
in field formations to safeguard the impressive gains of a focused project like 'Project Tiger'.

The important elements in Wildlife protection and control are:

a. Mapping/plotting the relative spatial abundance of wild animals, identification of risk
factors, proximity to risk factors, sensitivity categorization, crime mapping and immediate
action for apprehending the offenders based on effective networking and communication.

b. Space technology has shown the interconnectivity of natural and anthropogenic

phenomena occurring anywhere on earth. Several Tiger Reserves are being linked with the
Project Tiger Directorate in the GIS domain for Wildlife Crime Risk Management.
 What’s planned for future…
• b) GIS based digitized database and MIS development/networking in Tiger
Reserves:

• With the advanced IT tools, a wide gamut of software solutions are available to
improve wildlife related information capture process, its analysis and informed
decision making.
• Geographic Information System is the most relevant of these technologies for
natural resource management projects, including wildlife management.
• The mandate of project tiger is to conserve tigers in a holistic manner.

• The GIS based database at PTHQ is being linked with the microcomputers in the
Tiger Reserves, so that a dynamic linkage for rapid information flow is established
using Arc IMS facility.
 What’s planned for future…
• c) Tiger Habitat & Population Evaluation System for the Indian Sub Continent

A 'Tiger Atlas of India' and a 'Tiger Habitat & Population Evaluation System for the country is being developed using the
state- of - the - art technology.

• This involves:
1. Mapping , data acquisition and GIS modeling
2. Field data collection and validation
3. Data Maintenance , Dissemination and Use

• The following potential tiger habitats in the country are being covered:
>Shivalik-Terai Conservation Unit(Uttaranchal, UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Nepal)
>Nort east Conservation Unit
>Sunderbans Conservation Unit
>Central Indian Conservation Unit
>Eastern Ghat Conservation Unit
>Western Ghat Conservation Unit

Satellite data is being used and classified into vegetation and land use maps on a 1:50,000 scale, with digitized data
relating to contour , villages, roads , drainage , administrative boundaries and soil . The spatial layers would be attached
with attribute data , viz. human population , livestock population , meteorological data, agricultural information and field
data pertaining to wildlife, habitat for evolving regional protocols to monitor tiger and its habitat.
MEE – Management Effectiveness Evaluation