A tiger in his enclosure at Byculla Zoo on International Tiger Day, in Mumbai on July 29, 2021. (PTI Photo)
New Delhi, July 29 (PTI): Tiger conservation is a symbol of conservation of forests, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said on Thursday as he granted CA|TS accreditation to 14 tiger reserves in the country on the occasion of the International Tiger Day.
CA|TS or Conservation Assured|Tiger Standards is a globally accepted conservation tool that sets best practices and standards to manage tigers and encourages assessments to benchmark progress.
Tiger conservation is a symbol of conservation of forests. Population of tigers is an indicator of a well-balanced ecosystem. On this occasion of the International Tiger Day, we are not just protecting our tigers, but saving the ecosystem and our forests.
Other than these 14 tiger reserves, there are three more for which we want to achieve the CA|TS accreditation. We want all 51 of our tiger reserves to get the accreditation and stay protected, Yadav said during a virtual interaction.
The 14 tiger reserves which have attained the accreditation are Manas Tiger Reserve, Kaziranga Tiger Reserve and Orang Tiger Reserve in Assam, Satpura Tiger Reserve, Kanha Tiger Reserve and Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh.
Pench Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra, Valmiki Tiger Reserve in Bihar, Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in Uttar Pradesh, Parambikulam Tiger Reserve in Kerala, Mudumalai Tiger Reserve and Anamalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu, Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Karnataka and Sundarbans Tiger Reserve in West Bengal also received the honour.
According to the 2018 census report, there are 2,967 tigers in India.
The environment minister also released the report 'Status of Leopards, Co-predators and Megaherbivores-2018'. He said the report is a testimony to the fact that conservation of tigers leads to conservation of the entire ecosystem.
The event was also attended by Minister of State for Environment Ashwini Kumar Choubey, who emphasised the age-old tradition of living in harmony with nature and all forms of life.
He said as a top predator, tiger plays a critical role in maintaining healthy ecosystem and exhorted all to come together and join hands to save the wild cats and their natural habitat.
In the presence of both the ministers, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) felicitated some of the forest frontline workers 'Bagh Rakshaks' to recognise their outstanding contribution towards the protection of tigers and forests.
Our forest force continued to toil day and night, protecting forests and wildlife even during the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, Yadav said and congratulated all the frontline forest staff for their undying spirit.
The Conservation Assured | Tiger Standards (CA|TS) has been agreed upon as an accreditation tool by the global coalition of tiger range countries (TRCs) and has been developed by tiger and protected area experts.
Officially launched in 2013, it sets minimum standards for effective management of target species and encourages assessment of these standards in relevant conservation areas, an official from the environment ministry said, adding that CA|TS is a set of criteria which allows tiger sites to check if their management will lead to successful tiger conservation.
CA|TS is being implemented across 125 sites in seven tiger range countries, and India has the biggest number with 94 sites, out of which, assessment was completed for 20 tiger reserves this year, according to WWF India.
The 14 tiger reserves honoured with the CA|TS accreditation are home to 839 tigers.
Assam's three tiger reserves--Manas, Kaziranga and Orang--are home to 156 tigers collectively. While the Manas reserve, spread over 2,837 square km, houses 31 tigers; Kaziranga, spread over 1,173.5 sq km, is home to 104 tigers. Orang reserve, which is spread over 492.4 sq km, has 21 tigers.
The three tiger reserves in Madhya Pradesh--Satpura, Kanha and Panna--have 40, 88 and 25 tigers, respectively.
Pench Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra has 53 tigers, Valmiki Tiger Reserve in Bihar 32 tigers, Dudhwa in Uttar Pradesh 82 tigers, and Madumalai and Anamalai tiger reserves in Tamil Nadu have 103 and 20 tigers, respectively. Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Karnataka is home to 126 tigers, while Parambikulam in Kerala has 26 tigers.
West Bengal's Sundarbans Tiger Reserve is the only mangrove habitat which harbours tigers and is a global priority Tiger Conservation Landscape Unit. These mangrove forests are also the world's largest contiguous halophytic mangrove habitat, covering an area of 10,000 sq km, with about 66 per cent of the landscape in Bangladesh and 34 per cent in India.
A globally important wetland and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this tiger reserve supports 88 tigers.
