MoEF&CC: 14 Tiger Reserves of India Received CA|TS Accreditation 

Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change(MoEF&CC) announced that 14 Tiger reserves across India have received the accreditation of the global Conservation Assured Tiger Standards (CA|TS) during the virtual event organised on the occasion of the International Tiger Day 2021, (29th July).

• The 14 accredited tiger reserves are located in Assam (3), Madhya Pradesh (2), Tamil Nadu (2) Maharashtra (1), Bihar (1), Uttar Pradesh (1), West Bengal (1), Kerala (1), and Karnataka (1).
• He also released the report ‘Status of Leopards, Co-predators and Megaherbivores-2018’ and the special edition of ‘STRIPES’ quarterly newsletter of the National Tiger Conservation Authority’s (NTCA).

The 14 Tiger Reserved accredited by CA|TS:

About Conservation Assured | Tiger Standards (CA|TS):

i.Conservation Assured | Tiger Standards (CA|TS) launched in 2013 is implemented across 125 sites in the 7 tiger range countries.

ii.According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, India (WWF India), CA|TS is implemented across 94 sites in India among which the assessment was completed for 20 tiger reserves in 2021.

iii.It is an important part of Tx2, the global goal to double wild tiger numbers by the year 2022.

Workings of CA|TS:

i.CA|TS is a set of criteria that allows tiger sites to check if their management will lead to successful tiger conservation.

ii.CA|TS is organised under seven pillars and 17 elements of critical management activity.

Note:

The First Global CA|TS Consultation Meeting will be held in Bangkok, Thailand in November 2021.

Status of Leopards, Co-predators and Megaherbivores in India 2018:

The new report “Status of Leopards, Co-predators and Megaherbivores in India 2018” released by the Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, assesses the status of leopards from camera trap data and occupancy surveys conducted in 2018-19 in tiger range sites across 20 States.

• The report states that the leopard population in India has increased around 63% from 2014 to 2018.
• The assessment was a part of the National tiger estimation exercise of 2018 conducted by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in collaboration with the State Forest Departments and coordinated by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

Highlights of the report:

i.It is estimated that the overall population of leopards in the tiger range landscape has increased to around 12,852(Standard error(SE) range 12,172-13,535) from 7,910 (SE range 6,566-9,181) leopards counted in 2014.

ii.The major population with 5,906 leopards occurs in the forested landscape of Central India comprising of several Tiger Reserves and Protected Areas

iii.Second major population block supporting about 2,924 (SE range 2,812 – 3,036) leopards occur in the Western Ghats.

Increase in Assam’s Tiger population:

i.The tiger population of Assam has increased to 200 in 2021 from 159 in 2018.

As of 2021, There are 121 Tigers in Kaziranga, 48 in Manas, 28 in Orang and 3 in Nameri Tiger Reserves.

ii.The Manas Tiger Reserve has increased its tiger population from zero to 48 in the last 2 decades and the Kaziranga has increased its tiger population from 90 in 2015 to 121 in 2021.

• Assam and Madhya Pradesh are the only states with 3 Tiger Reserves with CA|TS accreditation.

About Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change(MoEF&CC):

Union Minister– Bhupender Yadav (Rajya Sabha- Rajasthan)
Minister of State– Ashwini Kumar Choubey(Constituency- Buxar, Bihar)