NATIONAL TIGER CONSERVATION AUTHORITY

Why in News?

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) Ministry for Environment, Forest & Climate Change in collaboration with the Sankala Foundation is organising an art exhibition titled, “Silent Conversation: From Margins to the Centre”, from 3rd November 2023 to 5th November 2023 at India Habitat Centre. NTCA along with Sankala Foundation through this art exhibition is paying a tribute to the successful completion of 50 years of Project.

What is National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)?

 The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change constituted under enabling provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, as amended in 2006, for strengthening tiger conservation, as per powers and functions assigned to it under the said Act.

The Minister in charge of the Ministry of Environment and Forests will be the Chairperson

 The objectives of NTCA are:

1. Providing statutory authority to Project Tiger so that compliance of its directives become legal.
2. Fostering accountability of Center-State in management of Tiger Reserves, by providing a basis for MoU with States within our federal structure.
3. Providing for an oversight by Parliament.
4. Addressing livelihood interests of local people in areas surrounding Tiger Reserves.

What is Project Tiger?

The ‘Project Tiger’ is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, providing funding support to tiger range States for in-situ conservation of tigers in designated tiger reserves, and has put the endangered tiger on an assured path of recovery by saving it from extinction, as revealed by the recent findings of the  All  India  tiger  estimation using the refined methodology.

Project Tiger is a wildlife conservation  initiative  in  India  that  was  launched in 1973 with the primary objective of protecting and preserving the Bengal Tiger, India’s national animal and restoring its habitat so as to reverse the animal’s alarming decline in previous decades. The project focuses on the selection and preservation of areas which are specially managed to conserve the tiger population and their associated ecosystems. Over the years, the  number  of Tiger Reserves has increased, and there are now 54 reserves across the country. An essential aspect of Project Tiger is involving local communities in conservation efforts by providing livelihood opportunities and reducing human-wildlife conflicts.

NTCA provides central assistance to States under the ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Project Tiger for tiger reserves, for activities (recurring / non-recurring), as reflected in the Annual Plan of  Operations  of  tiger  reserves, based on their Tiger Conservation Plans is an important activity. This, interalia, includes protection, habitat amelioration, day to day monitoring, eco-development for local people in buffer areas, voluntary relocation of people from core/critical tiger habitats, and addressing human-wildlife conflicts, within the ambit of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and guidelines of Project Tiger / National Tiger Conservation Authority.

The NTCA / Project Tiger also conducts the country level assessment of the status of tiger, co-predators, prey and habitat once in four years, using the refined methodology, as approved by the Tiger Task Force.