The article is written by Daksha Khanna, from Symbiosis Law School, Noida. The article discusses the importance of the Tiger Conservation Plan. Further, it describes the work carried out under the plan and its results. 

Introduction

The tiger is an animal that plays a very important role in the maintenance of the health of the ecosystem. It is an animal that is at the top of the food chain. It is a predator that regulates the population of the wild which further helps in the maintenance of the balance of herbivores and vegetation. The extinction of the top predator can create an imbalance in the ecosystem and. It is an indicator of the fact that the ecosystem is not well protected and would not exist in a balanced manner for Tigers for long. 

Extinctions of species take place when they die due to cataclysmic events, evolutionary problems and interference by humans. The extinction of various species is ongoing and will increase in pace soon. Tigers are coming into conflict with humans as they interfere with their natural habitat.

The impact in the long-run

The large scale habitat destruction and the reduction in the number of prey have turned out to be a major long-term threat to the tiger population in the country. Clearing of forests for development, construction of road networks, hydel projects, factories, etc are forcing tigers to settle in small areas even though they require large territories to hunt and survive. Humans have become invasive species for tigers.

We need to focus on saving the tigers because if one species goes extinct, it would lead to a collapse in the entire system. In Mauritius, when the Dodos were declared extinct, a species of Acacia tree stopped regenerating. When we lose one species, it has a domino effect on the rest of the species and ecosystem in particular. The ecosystem becomes fragile due to loss of a species as its loss can cause cascading effects on the food chain, impacting other species. 

Another case of Kelp forests; they play an important role by providing habitat for other species and protecting the coastline from storm surges. Despite its benefits, these forests are being mowed down at a rapid rate. This led to the explosion of sea urchins that damaged the kelp forests and also harmed California’s red urchins that are valued for sushi. This proves the interdependency of various species on each other. This is the reason why conservation of tigers, which are at the highest risk currently, is considered as a task of utmost importance and proper measures need to be taken. 

To battle the extinction of Tigers in India, Section 38V(3) of the Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act, 2006, requires the state government to establish a Tiger Conservation Plan (TCP) to ensure the protection of tiger reserves. 

Project Tiger

Project Tiger was started by the Government of India during Indira Gandhi’s tenure as the Prime Minister. It was administered by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). The coverage of the plan has extended from 9 tiger reserves to 50. The core areas have the legal status of national park or sanctuaries and the reserves act as a buffer zone which is a mix of forest and non-forest land.

The scheme is sponsored by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Central Government. It is coordinated by NTCA.

The replacement of Project Tiger, in 2006, with the ‘Tiger Conservation Plan’, led the way for tiger conservation and proper management of the reserves. 

Objective 

Objectives of the Tiger Conservation Plan

1. To ensure the protection of tiger reserves. 
2. To ensure the protection of specific habitats that can prove to be feasible for the population of tigers. 
3. To ensure the maintenance of the ecological cycle of the co-predators and prey animals. 
4. To ensure the maintenance of protected areas considering the livelihood and settlement of local people in the surroundings. 
5. Considering the issues concerned with forestry operations of forests divisions adjoining the tiger reserves, so that they are not disrupting the needs of tiger conservation. 

Objectives of the National Tiger Conservation Authority

1. Provision of statutory authority to Project Tiger for legalising its directives.
2. Fostering Centre-State cooperation by providing a basis for Memorandum of Understanding.
3. Providing for oversight by Parliament. Addressing the concerns of the local people settled in the areas surrounding Tiger Reserves. 

Nature and scope of the plan

The guidelines made it mandatory for every Tiger Reserve to be managed following a management plan that would be developed keeping the site in mind. Project Tiger initiated the concept of ‘core-buffer zones’, ‘habitat improvement’, ‘field data collection’ etc. Due to biotic pressures, ecological unsustainability and disturbance along with merciless poaching made it imperative for the conservation plan to strengthen the source of tiger population.

 The management included:

1. Anti-poaching activities.
2. Infrastructural development of the Tiger Reserves.
3. Water development and Habitat Improvement.
4. Rehabilitation of hunting tribes surrounding the reserves. 
5. Development of staff and capacity of caretakers. 
6. Relocation of villagers.
7. Protection of the reserves from ecologically unsustainable development.

Further, the management focussed on the restoration of habitat connectivity to repopulate the core areas with tigers. The process involved:

1. Providing local people with livelihood and settlement options to minimise their dependency on core areas. 
2. Keeping track of timely compensation for injuries sustained by humans due to wild animals, livestock depreciation by carnivores etc.
3. Targeting areas that directly or indirectly impact the tiger reserves. 
4. Ensuring safeguards in the area to serve the interest of wildlife conservation. 

Components of the plan

1. Core Zones- These zones include the protected areas that act as a natural state of the ecosystems in the biosphere reserves. There is no presence of settlement inside these zones. Core areas are where the actual forest exists and the natural resources are strictly protected by the government.
2. Buffer Zones- The areas adjoining the core zones are called buffer zones and they witness human interference. There is co-existence of tigers and villagers in these zones. A buffer zone does not have a status of a national park or a sanctuary, it is considered a multiple-use area. The existing uses of the buffer zones can be continued by mainstreaming of wildlife concerns. These areas absorb the effects of poaching.

Further, anti-poaching and patrolling strategies are made a priority in a tiger reserve under the plan. Foot patrolling for protection is carried out. Regulation of livestock grazing, fire protection, incentives to local communities and so on is taken care of. 

The strategies that the plan focuses on are:

• Anti-Poaching activities

• Deployment of anti coaching squads
• Maintaining patrolling camps
• Organising vehicle patrolling
• Maintenance of wireless networks

• Strengthening of infrastructure

• Improvement in patrolling camps, staff quarters, museums etc.
• Maintenance of road network
• Maintenance of fire watchtower, firelines and firebreaks
• Improvement of habitat
• Giving importance to research work
• Strengthening species studies
• Conducting international workshops
• Conducting national workshops
• Conducting data entry analysis
• Emphasizing special studies
• Specialisation in training and management
• Digitization of maps
• Maintenance of the habitat
• Procurement of satellite imageries for planning

• Resolving the man-animal conflict

• Compensation for cattle liftin
• Compensation for the death of human beings due to animal attack
• Compensation for crop reduction
• Managing rescue vehicles
• Maintenance of equipment
• Procurement of drugs

• Encouraging ecotourism in the reserves

Eco-tourism is an evolving field in the tourism industry. It focuses on sustainability, equality and efforts from communities for the improvement of the living standards of those settled around. It means that the core areas are not used for tourism and the existing tourism activities are limited to the buffer areas.

• Provision of allowance to the staff

Keeping in mind the intention to attract the best talent in the staff membership, provision of allowance becomes necessary. Further, the reserves are located in remote areas which makes the job quite difficult.

• Establishment of new Tiger Reserves

The project focuses on maintaining the population of tigers and to strive for stability in the ecosystem and fostering the trophic level of the food chain. The biotic pressure on the ecosystem has proven to be harmful to the animal species in specific and so it is necessary to protect the viable tiger population to maintain the apex level of the food chain. Since the tiger habitats have become weak and fragile, the only thing that can be done is the formation of new tiger reserves. 

• Ensuring rehabilitation of hunting tribes settled around the tiger reserves

The urgent need to launch rehabilitation programmes for the traditional hunting tribes has become very essential for the plan. These programmes are worked on in a consultative manner. Wages of the deployed people are provided, agricultural lands are provided and there is the provision of health care and basic education facilities. Few of the tribes that require relocation are;

• Behelias
• Ambalgars
• Mongias
• Bavariyas
• Kaikads
• Picharis
• Valayaras
• Mizo
• Bru
• Solung
• Pardhi
• Boyas
• Nyishi
• Yenadis
• Nat 

The nature and scope of the plan mainly focus on the maintenance of the reserves and the surrounding areas. There are Tiger conservation strategies along with sub-activities that act as the main focus of carrying out the plan efficiently.

The Tiger Task Force

The National Board for Wildlife headed by the Prime Minister recommended setting up a Task Force to look into the problems of tiger conservation. The force was constituted for empowering the plan as it required immediate attention, implementation and strengthening. The task force’s purpose was to give statutory as well as administrative powers and send the report related to the project to be annually sent to the Parliament so that it is administered and the plan is reviewed by professionals from time to time for better results. 

Conservative measures initiated by the Task Force

1. To consider various problems of conservation and suggest efficient methods for its improvement. 
2. Protecting the tigers from poaching and various other illegal practices.
3. Expanding the areas for tigers to live and also focussing on reducing biotic pressure. 
4. Strengthening the relationship with local people who share tigers habitat by fielding strategies for betterment in co-existence.
5. Regenerating the forest habitats and investment in forest water and grasslands.

The Tiger Task Force had a great impact on the plan and it added security to the plan. 

Issues and challenges

Though the plan had great impacts and was mostly successful, certain things in the plan that caused problems and turned out to be a challenge for the plan were; at least 50% of the Tiger Reserves were facing threat from infrastructure like highways, railway lines, etc. Other threats in the report were poaching, biotic pressure, human interference, lack of forest staff, hunting, mining, pollution, climate change and improper disposal of garbage. 

1. Chhattisgarh witnessed a huge decline from 46 tigers in 2014 to 19 in 2019 and the same trends have been seen in several other states.The survival rate seems to be on the decline and the probable causes are territorial fights and road accidents. This shows instability in the tiger population.
2. The growth rate of poaching is at pace with the growth rate of the tiger population. Between 2007 and 2016, 342 tigers were killed; between 2007 and 2011, 118 tigers were killed; between 2011 and 2014, 88 tigers were killed; 9 between 2014 and 2017 and around 130 between 2014 and 2018.
3. More than 400 tigers have been killed by poachers between 2008 and 2018 alone. 
4. Around 100 tigers were killed in 2018 due to poisoning, electrocution and other human interventions. 
5. The tigers have started losing its roaming space due to humans encroaching upon their land. 
6. The state government relies on the central government for its fund which has led to a rise in the dismissal of management.
7. Tiger conservation plan is a centrally sponsored scheme and so even though the guidelines issued by the central government seem like the ground reality, it mostly depends on the state government and how they handle the same.
8. Most of the forest guards and range officers are not efficiently equipped with anti-poaching equipment and even where arms are available and the need arises, they do not have the permission to use it.
9. The flow of funds is not smooth and sometimes are received late. This makes the execution of various activities difficult. And so the activities that would give results, in the long run, are procrastinated and the focus shifts on the short term activities. Due to this, the management operations receive a setback.

Rights and duties of the National Tiger Conservation Authority

National Tiger Conservation Authority is a statutory body. NTCA fulfils its mandate through the provisions under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The chairperson shall be the minister in charge of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The vice-chairperson is the Minister of the State of the Ministry of Environment. The meetings of the authority are presided by the chairperson and in his absence, the vice-chairperson. 

The NTCA has to prepare an annual report that requires the mentioning of all the activities undertaken by NTCA. The provision that deals with this is Section 38S and includes the full-account of the activities. Further, under Section 38T, the central government has to submit an annual report, Memorandum of action and the audit report to the houses of the parliament. 

NTCA has certain rights and duties prescribed under Section 38O of the act :

1. The NTCA has to approve the tiger conservation plan created by the state government under Section 38V(3) of the act. 
2. Assessment and maintenance of various aspects of sustainable ecology and disallowing unsustainable ecological land use such as mining, poaching etc.
3. Establishing the standards for tourism activities and issuing the guidelines for activities in the core and buffer areas of the tiger reserves. 
4. Provision of management and measures for addressing conflicts between human and wildlife. 
5. Issuing protective measures for the conservation of the plan and maintaining the status of habitats, mortality rate, patrolling, management aspects and so on. 
6. Approval of coordination of research, tiger monitoring, prey habitat, related socio-economical and ecological parameters.
7. Biodiversity conservation initiatives through ecological development and people’s participation. 
8. Ensuring scientific, technological and legal support for better implementation of the tiger conservation plan.
9. Facilitating skill development of the staff and officers of the tiger reserves. 
10. Performing functions that may be deemed necessary to carry out the purpose of the act concerning the conservation of the tiger habitat. 

Key points of the National Tiger Conservation Authority Report of 2019

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the result of Tiger Census 2018 on 29 July 2019. The tiger population in India was disclosed in the same. The result was that there are 2967 number of Bengal Tigers left in India and it proved to be double than that in 2006.

It became the biggest and the safest habitats for the Royal Bengal Tigers. Madhya Pradesh (became the Tiger State of India) has the highest number with 526, Karnataka being on the second number with 524 and Uttarakhand is third with 442 Tigers.

• 2697 tigers present in India showed a boost in the growth of the species in the past five years.
• Five years ago, there were just 1400 tigers and it has become double in 2019.
• The project was launched in Jim Corbett National Park.
• India only had 1800 tigers in 1970.
• Madhya Pradesh became the tiger state of India. 
• India is a habitat to 70% of the tigers in the world. 
• 1411 tigers were counted in 2008.
• 1706 tigers were counted in 2010.
• 2226 tigers were counted in 2014.

Is the tiger project a success or a failure

A healthy tiger population is an indication of a well-balanced ecosystem since they are at the top of the food chain. Their conservation gives a result where other species are protected and conserved as well. This has led to several life-supporting benefits which indicate the success of the project. Some of the following are:

1. Carbon Sequestration- There is a massive amount of release of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to the burning of fuel and other activities, increasing the greenhouse effect. The carbon is absorbed by the forest vegetation (largely by the forests in Tiger Reserves) and so the forests become crucial for the atmosphere as well. 
2. Presence of large covers of forests impacts the climate of the nearby areas. This proves to be beneficial for agriculture and humans, as they are well protected from the extreme type of climate. 
3. The evapotranspiration process from the trees results in a marginal increase in rainfall in the area and this becomes advantageous for humans, agriculture and places where groundwater is insufficient.
4. The forest acts as a storage of water and prevents run-off and erosion of the topsoil during rainfall. The root system of vegetation grown on it facilitates infiltration of water. 
5. The trees in the forests of tiger reserves act as catchment areas. They absorb the water and release the same slowly and gradually. This reduces the risk of flooding and erosion of the topsoil on which the vegetation thrives.

Certain areas where the plan has failed or is lacking initiatives are as follows:

1. Poaching has not yet been controlled the way it should have been. Most tiger deaths are a result of poaching or human intervention. 
2. Construction activities like that of the infrastructure, settlements, mining etc have resulted in disturbances in the tiger population.
3. The traditional livelihoods of the local people have been disrupted and many get injured or attacked by the tigers that escape the reserves. This causes not only to the people but also to the tiger population and it needs to be taken into consideration as a priority. 
4. There is a lack in the provision of resources for efficient management within the reserves. The unavailability of arms and ammunition has resulted in chaos not only among the tiger population but also among the people that are victims to the attacks of the wild animal. Most of the time, the officers are not allowed to use arms on the tigers and this further leads to problems. 
5. There is not enough transparency in the management system. For instance, control forms are the forms that are given to keep a record of events and management activities that deal with the problems that arise and their magnitude. These forms were not provisioned in certain protected areas. 
6. Compartments are the smallest unit in a  forest and there are compartment histories that are maintained for the monitoring of a wide range of activities and events which result in the evaluation of man-induced impacts, efficiency, planning and management actions. These compartment histories were not maintained in many protected areas. 

Critical analysis

The fact that the tiger population has increased by 33%  since the last census, shows that the tiger conservation plan has mostly been a success. Every plan has its drawbacks and the improvement in those areas is what makes a plan better later on. 

For further improvement, it has been made mandatory for the state government to establish Tiger Conservation Foundation (as per Section 38X of the Act).

1. This facilitates and supports the government for the conservation of tigers. It helps in the development of the tiger reserves in the ecological, social, cultural and economical aspects. 
2. It helps in promoting eco-tourism and safeguarding the natural environment. 
3. It facilitates the creation of assets which can fulfil the objectives stated above. 
4. It renders support in technological, financial, social, legal activities. 

The setting up of the Tiger Task Force and the Tiger Conservation Foundation is a proof of the efforts put in by the central and the state government for making the plan work efficiently. The areas where the plan lacks, a little more effort and the need of the hour is timely fund transfer for better results shortly. 

Suggestions 

1. Community involvement can give a better result to the plan as they have been living alongside tigers for generations. They need to be involved in the activities of planning and natural management to ensure lasting results in the long run. 
2. Further, it was recently found that 1 in 7 tigers was regarded as ‘paper tigers’ which means that the same tiger was counted more than once. The Indian authorities should send their data to independent Indian scientists for verification. 
3. There needs to be more accountability and transparency in the data.
4. In some tiger reserves, the density of tigers is very low and the population can be brought to a stable number only if enough prey population exists. This task must be taken up. 
5. The rehabilitation of families living around the reserves has been a slow process and this needs speedy efforts and attention. 
6. Intrusion detection, poacher movement drones, night vision drones, robots etc should be created for high security. 

Conclusion

The status of the tigers outside the protected areas is also important. Since the inception of Project Tiger, the government has invested in the protection of the tigers and has taken steps to protect them and India has become one of the biggest habitats for tigers. The project has made it possible to have a more focussed approach and to prioritize actions for the conservation of tigers. In my opinion, the investment made in the project is more than justified. The in-situ conservation strategy has, and will always prove to be beneficial for the success of the plan. 

References 

• http://globaltigerforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/india.pdf
• http://natureconservation.in/the-national-tiger-conservation-authority-guidelines-2012/
• http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/revised_guidelines_css_pt.pdf
• https://projecttiger.nic.in/Index.aspx
• https://pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1594508

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