India celebrated Global Tiger Day 2022 at a function organised at Chandrapur Forest Academy, Maharashtra on Friday. Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav and Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ashwini Kumar Choubey attended the celebrations.
The Union minister received the guard of honour by Special Tiger Protection Force, an exclusive regimented strike force from Tiger Reserves of Maharashtra & Kerala Forest Department.
Speaking at the occasion, Yadav said the government is committed towards the well being of those people who inhabit tiger bearing landscapes.
"The government is committed towards the well-being of the people who inhabit these tiger bearing landscapes through creation of various livelihood opportunities and interventions," he said.
The two ministers, along with other delegates, visited the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) and appreciated the diversity of the landscape, its flora and fauna and had informal interactions with the forest staff and tiger reserve management to understand the field level protection issues.
Tadoba Anderi Tiger Reserve has a landscape with a high-density of tigers that co-exist with the local population.
According to the a PIB release, "As per 2018 Tiger estimation, India has the largest tiger population in the world. There are 6 Tiger Reserves in Maharashtra. Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve is the largest and the oldest".
Yadav was deeply appreciative of the dedication of the staff in carrying out enforcement activities specially the mobile application based smart patrolling called MSTRIPES. He also appreciated the unique community-based ecotourism model which is providing livelihood opportunities to the locals and has helped win support for the reserve.
Yadav congratulated all tiger range countries, and commended India in particular for setting a benchmark in conservation for having & protecting more than 70% of global tiger population. He said that the Government of India has demonstrated its commitment to tiger conservation by increasing number of tiger reserves from initial nine in 1973 to the current 52, the latest being Ramgarh Vishdhari in Rajasthan.
He commended Maharashtra for implementing the unique Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Jan Van Vikas Yojana which provides for schemes for the welfare of people living in and around tiger reserves which is worth emulating by other states.
To avoid complacency, an unbiased, independent, management effectiveness evaluation is conducted quadrennially involving outside experts in the wildlife conservation and also the All India Tiger Estimation once in four years and is currently being carried out for the fifth time, the Minister shared. He mentioned with pride that this unique exercise done in 2018 has entered the Guinness book of world record.
He emphasized on promoting low impact sustainable tourism in Tiger Reserves with maximization of visitor satisfaction and direct benefit sharing with locals. He shared that India has taken up a high priority conservation project to bring back Cheetah which went extinct in 1952 by embarking on cheetah introduction programme which is at an advanced stage of implementation.
Yadav said the bilateral agreement with Namibian Government is already signed and the MoU with South Africa will be signed soon. He appreciated all the field staff for the commitment shown for tiger conservation which has put the country in number one position globally.
Ashwini Kumar Choubey stressed that tiger symbolises power, plays a crucial role in conservation of biodiversity, forest, water and climate security. He stated that it is a matter of great pride that India is a global leader in tiger conservation and is collaborating with countries like Cambodia, China, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar and Russia for coming together for the cause of tiger conservation. We should imagine a future of peaceful co-existence of man, animal and nature, said the MoS.
Frontline staff were felicitated and rewarded with NTCA annual award of Rs 1 lakh each to two Foresters, two Forest Guards and two Watchers/protection assistants/ Tiger Trackers by the Hon’ble Minister in recognition of their extraordinary performance in the field of tiger conservation, as a part of the celebrations.
The International Tiger Day is observed every year on July 29 to raise awareness about tiger conservation.
