Local participation must for development of tiger reserves: Bhupender Yadav

New Delhi: The Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, emphasized on the active participation of locals for the conservation of forest areas and tiger reserves across the country.

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 the 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 its history, the NTCA meeting happened outside the national capital.

Bhupendra said that in order to get first-hand information about reserve 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, and 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 governments to take up the Air Gun Surrender Abiyan. Rampant use of air guns was a problem in the north-eastern states.

The “Air Gun Surrender Abhiyaan”, which has so far yielded great results, started in March 2021 in Arunachal Pradesh.

Within a year of this community and compassion-driven programme, the state has witnessed the surrender of over 2,200 air guns.

Speaking about the programme, Minister of State for MoEF&CC Ashwini 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.

The Forest Fire Audit protocol for tiger reserves and the Technical Manual on Management Effective Evaluation (MME) of tiger reserves were also released, prepared by NTCA.

India is amongst the select countries in the world that have institutionalised 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 harbours about 70 percent of the world’s tiger population in the wild.