Dr. Sunil Mittal C l University of P Paper No: 03 Biodiversity and Conservation Module: 22 Wild Life conservation projects in India Development Team Prof. R.K. Kohli Principal Investigator & Prof. V.K. Garg & Prof. Ashok Dhawan Co- Principal Investigator Central University of Punjab, Bathinda Dr Sunil Mittal Paper Coordinator Central University of Punjab, Bathinda Dr Sunil Mittal Content Writer Central University of Punjab, Bathinda Content Reviewer Prof. V. K. Garg Central University of Punjab, Bathinda Anchor Institute Central University of Punjab Paper 03 Biodiversity and Conservation Environmental Sciences Module 22 Wildlife conservation projects in India Description of Module Subject Name Environmental Sciences Paper Name Biodiversity and Conservation Module Name/Title Wild Life conservation projects in India Module Id EVS/BC-III/22 Pre-requisites Objectives To learn about biodiversity conservation projects in India Keywords Biodiversity, animal, conservation project Paper 03 Biodiversity and Conservation Environmental Sciences Module 22 Wildlife conservation projects in India Module 22: Wildlife Conservation projects in India 1. Introduction 2. Project Tiger 3. Project Elephant (PE) 3.1. The Major objectives of Project Elephant (PE) 3.2. Main activities under the Project are as follows (Ministry of Environment & Forest) 3.3. Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) Programme. 4. Project Hangul 5. Project Snow Leopard 6. Project One Horn Rhino 7. Project Ganges Dolphin 8. Crocodile Project 8.1 Objectives of the project Crocodiles 8.2 Project Sites 8.3. Protecting Gharials 9. Project Cheetah 10. Sea Turtle Project 11. Vulture Conservation Paper 03 Biodiversity and Conservation Environmental Sciences Module 22 Wildlife conservation projects in India 1. Introduction Wildlife means the entire flora and fauna growing in wild and not domesticated. It includes animals, plants and microorganisms, which are not domesticated by humans. Wildlife is an important component of biodiversity. India is unique in diversity of both its wild animal and vegetation. But due to rapid industrialization, increasing population & pollution and high demand of food, hunting etc. has led to over exploitation and extinction of some well-known animals and plants from this nation. For prevention of extinction of species, conservation efforts have been initiated. India has started wild life conservation programmes since 1930 with the establishment of Jim Corbett National Park. A large number of Projects have been initiated by the Govt. of India to save animal biodiversity and prevent the extinction. Wildlife conservation is the attempt to protect endangered animal and plant species, along with their natural habitat. The present module focuses only on the various animal conservation projects in India. The conservation projects discussed are: 1. Project Tiger 2. Project Elephant 3. Project Hangul 4. Project Snow Leopard 5. Project One Horn Rhino 6. Project Ganges Dolphin 7. Project Crocodile 8. Project Cheetah 9. Project Sea Turtle 10. Vulture Conservation 2. Project Tiger ‘Project Tiger’ is one of the most successful conservation projects not only in India but also globally. The project was launched in the year 1973, based on the recommendations of a task force, set up by the then Prime Minister of India Mrs. Indira Gandhi. When the project was first initiated, 9 tiger reserves were settled to be covered under the project tiger. With the time, these have increased to 50 (December 2016) and covered almost 71027 km2area. It is spread in 18 states and covers around 2.21% of the geographical area of our country. Corbett National Park was the first national park of India to come under Project Tiger on April 1st, Paper 03 Biodiversity and Conservation Environmental Sciences Module 22 Wildlife conservation projects in India 1973. The names of tiger reserves with their states are shown in Table 1 and map in Figure 2. Figure 1: Project Tiger Table 1: Tiger Reserves in India (Source: Project Tiger) Sl. No. Name of Tiger Reserve State Total area (In Sq.Kms.) 1 NagarjunsagarSrisailam Andhra Pradesh 3296.31 2 Namdapha Arunachal Pradesh 2052.82 3 Kamlang Tiger Reserve Arunachal Pradesh 783.00 4 Pakke Arunachal Pradesh 1198.45 5 Manas Assam 3150.92 6 Nameri Assam 344 7 Orang Tiger Reserve Assam 492.46 8 Kaziranga Assam 1173.58 9 Valmiki Bihar 899.38 10 Udanti-Sitanadi Chattisgarh 1842.54 11 Achanakmar Chattisgarh 914.017 12 Indravati Chhattisgarh 2799.07 13 Palamau Jharkhand 1129.93 14 Bandipur Karnataka 1456.3 Paper 03 Biodiversity and Conservation Environmental Sciences Module 22 Wildlife conservation projects in India 15 Bhadra Karnataka 1064.29 16 Dandeli-Anshi Karnataka 1097.514 17 Nagarahole Karnataka 1205.76 18 BiligiriRanganatha Temple Karnataka 574.82 19 Periyar Kerala 925 20 Parambikulam Kerala 643.662 21 Kanha Madhya Pradesh 2051.791 22 Pench Madhya Pradesh 1179.63225 23 Bandhavgarh Madhya Pradesh 1598.1 24 Panna Madhya Pradesh 1578.55 25 Satpura Madhya Pradesh 2133.30797 26 Sanjay-Dubri Madhya Pradesh 1674.502 27 Melghat Maharashtra 2768.52 28 Tadoba-Andhari Maharashtra 1727.5911 29 Pench Maharashtra 741.22 30 Sahyadri Maharashtra 1165.57 31 Nawegaon-Nagzira Maharashtra 653.674 32 Bor Maharashtra 138.12 33 Dampa Mizoram 988 34 Similipal Odisha 2750 35 Satkosia Odisha 963.87 36 Ranthambore Rajasthan 1411.291 37 Sariska Rajasthan 1213.342 38 Mukandra Hills Rajasthan 759.99 39 Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tamil Nadu 1601.542 40 Anamalai Tamil Nadu 1479.87 41 Mudumalai Tamil Nadu 688.59 42 Sathyamangalam Tamil Nadu 1408.4 43 Kawal Telangana 2019.12 44 Amrabad Telangana 2611.39* Paper 03 Biodiversity and Conservation Environmental Sciences Module 22 Wildlife conservation projects in India 45 Dudhwa Uttar Pradesh 2201.7748 46 Pilibhit Uttar Pradesh 730.2498 47 Amangarh (buffer of Corbett Uttar Pradesh 80.6 TR) Corbett Uttarakhand 1288.31 48 Rajaji TR Uttarakhand 1075.17 49 Sunderbans West Bengal 2584.89 50 Buxa West Bengal 757.9038 TOTAL 71027.10 The tiger (Figure 1) is a national animal of our country. It is a symbol of an intrinsic part of our culture. The world tiger day is celebrated every year on 29 July. The largest tiger reserve in India is Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve. For improving of project strength, National Tiger Conservation Authority has been also set up in different states to monitor the project. National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is constituted to regulate project tiger at national level. It is an administrative body of project tiger. In 2006, 1,411 tigers are reported in India, which increased to 1,706 in 2011 and 2,226 in 2014. In 2016, according to World Wildlife Fund and Global Tiger Forum, the total number of wild tigers has increased to 3,891. Tiger Conservation is the most significant wildlife project of India. Govt. of India provides all the financial and technical support through the Project Tiger. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF) provides all the important decisions and funding support through ‘Project Tiger’. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) has also been carried out for independent assessment of tiger reserves which is based on 45 parameters designed by the World Commission on Protected Areas. The Govt. of India is continuously coming forth to take immediate steps to implement the major recommendations from the task forces for strengthening efforts towards protection of tiger, convicting wildlife criminals, checking poaching, and reducing the smuggling of body parts of tigers in the international market. Paper 03 Biodiversity and Conservation Environmental Sciences Module 22 Wildlife conservation projects in India Figure 2: Map Showing Tiger Reserves (Source: Project Tiger, Govt. of India) 3. Project Elephant (PE) Paper 03 Biodiversity and Conservation Environmental Sciences Module 22 Wildlife conservation projects in India Project Elephant (PE) was launched in February 1992 to provide financial and specialized help to significant elephant states among the nation for the security of elephants, their environments, habitats and corridors (Figure 3). The project additionally covered the issues of human-elephant conflict and welfare of domesticated elephants. Currently, 32 Elephant Reserves (ERs) are existing and occupied 69,583 square kilometers area. The list of state- wise Elephant Reserves with area is shown in Table 2. 3.1. The Major objectives of Project Elephant (PE): Protect elephants environment, habitat & corridors Address issues of man-animal conflict Welfare of captive elephants The Project is being implemented in 16 States / UTs, viz. Andhra Pradesh , Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand , Karnataka , Kerala , Meghalaya , Nagaland , Orissa , Tamil Nadu , Uttaranchal , Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. 3.2. Main activities under the Project are as follows (Ministry of Environment & Forest): Ecological restoration of existing natural habitats and migratory routes of elephants Development of scientific and planned management for conservation of elephant habitats and viable population of Wild Asiatic elephants in India Promotion of measures for mitigation of man elephant conflict in crucial habitats and moderating pressures of human and domestic stock activities in crucial elephant habitats; Strengthening of measures for protection of Wild elephants form poachers and unnatural causes of death Research on Elephant management related issues Public education and awareness programmes Eco-development Veterinary care Elephant Rehabilitation/Rescue