Bhupender Yadav: Local participation must for development of tiger reserves

He said that we should promote our tiger reserves across the country which has immense flora and fauna, while at the same time ensuring the livelihoods of the people dependent on forests. The Minister also chaired the 20th Meeting of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) at Pakke tiger reserve in Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday, in the presence of MoS Ashwini Choubey and other officials from the department. For the first time in history the NTCA meeting happened outside the national capital. Bhupendra said, in order to get first-hand information about reserve’s local issues, these meetings will be held outside Delhi in forest areas or in tiger reserves. “We should conduct meetings with all stakeholders including forest officials who deal with different issues, local villagers, experts, students for the same” he said. On the occasion, around 100 air guns were surrendered by the local villagers. During the event, Yadav also urged all state government to take up the Air Gun Surrender Abiyan. Rampant use of Air gun was a problem in north eastern states. The “Air Gun Surrender Abhiyaan” which has so far yielded great results had started in March 2021 in Arunachal Pradesh. Within a year of this community and compassion driven program, the state has witnessed a surrender of over 2,200 hundred Air Guns. Talking about the program, Minister of State for MoEF&CC Ashiwin Choubey said, Arunachal Pradesh has set a great example in the conservation of animals and birds through the Air gun Surrender Campaign. “The central government is working on a futuristic and multi-pronged strategy for the next decade of tiger conservation in the country” he said. The Minister also released standard operating procedures for tiger reintroduction and supplementation in the wild. Forest Fire Audit protocol for tiger reserves, Technical Manual on Management Effective Evaluation (MME) of Tiger reserves were also released, prepared by NTCA. India is amongst the selected countries in the world that have institutionalized the MEE Process. The globally accepted framework of Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) of tiger reserves has paved the way for successfully assessing the tiger conservation efforts in the country. According to the Ministry, India harbors about 70 percent of the world’s tiger population in the wild. (UNI)