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India's 57th Tiger Reserve: Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary

India's 57th Tiger Reserve: Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary

09-01-2025
  1. In December 2024, the Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary has been officially declared a tiger reserve, becoming the 8th tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh and the 57th in India.
  2. This long-awaited notification marks a significant step forward in conserving India’s tiger population and biodiversity.
  3. The Ratapani Tiger Reserve (RTR) is not only home to a rich variety of flora and fauna but also holds historical and cultural significance, making it a critical addition to India’s network of protected areas.
  4. The other seven tiger reserves in MP include Kanha, Satpura, Bandhavgarh, Pench, Sanjay Dubri, Panna and Veerangana Durgavati.

About Ratapani Tiger Reserve

About Ratapani Tiger Reserve

Location and Area

  1. Geographical Location: Situated in the Vindhya Range, spanning the Raisen and Sehore districts of Madhya Pradesh.
  2. Total Area: 1,271.4 square kilometers.
  1. Core Area: 763.8 square kilometers.
  2. Buffer Area: 507.6 square kilometers.
  1. Major Water Bodies: Includes the Barna Reservoir and Ratapani Dam (Barrusot Lake).

Unique Features

  1. Historical Significance: The reserve encompasses the Bhimbetka Rock Shelters, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, featuring Stone Age rock paintings over 30,000 years old.
  2. Ecological Importance: A critical habitat for tigers, with approximately 90 tigers currently residing in the reserve.
  1. Acts as a migration corridor for tigers from nearby Satpura ranges.

Flora and Fauna of Ratapani

Vegetation

  1. Types of Forests: Dry and moist deciduous forests dominated by Teak trees (covering 55% of the area).
  1. Bamboo groves and evergreen Saja forests.
  1. These varied ecosystems enhance the appeal for eco-tourism and provide critical habitats for wildlife.

Wildlife

  1. Fauna:
  1. Large mammals: Tigers, leopards, dhole (Indian wild dog), sambar deer, wild boar, and sloth bears.
  2. Reptiles and Amphibians: 33 species of reptiles and 10 amphibian species with 14 fish species
  1. The reserve supports more than 35 species of mammals, ensuring ecological diversity.

Tiger Reserves in India

  1. Tiger reserves are legally protected areas designated for the conservation of tigers and their habitats. These reserves follow a core-buffer strategy:
  1. Core Area: National parks or wildlife sanctuaries with minimal human interference.
  2. Buffer Zone: Mixed-use areas balancing human activities and conservation needs.
  1. Legal Framework and Governance: Governed under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
  1. Administered by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), which provides funding and management oversight.

Chhattisgarh’s Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve: India’s 56th Tiger Reserve

  1. Earlier in November 2024, the Chhattisgarh government notified the Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve as India’s 56th tiger reserve.
  2. The reserve also aligns with the state’s ambitious plans to reintroduce cheetahs — the last cheetah was spotted here in the 1940s.
  3. Chhattisgarh is now home to 4 Tiger Reserves.
  4. This makes it the 3rd largest tiger reserve in the country after Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve in Andhra Pradesh and Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam.

Key Features of the Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve:

  1. Geographical Area and Location:

  1. Size: The reserve spans an area of 2,829.387 sq km, making it the 3rd largest tiger reserve in India.
  2. Location: It is spread across 4 districts in the northern tribal region of Sarguja in Chhattisgarh: Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur (MCB), Korea, Surajpur, Balrampur
  3. The reserve lies between Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh and Palamau in Jharkhand, and is adjacent to the Sanjay Dubri Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh.

  1. Biodiversity:

  1. Wildlife: Tigers, elephants, sloth bears, vultures, leopards, wolves, peacocks, bison, hyenas, langurs, jackals, cobras, and more.
  2. Flora: The reserve has rich vegetation including species like sal, saja, kusum, and dhavda trees. The topography comprises hills, plateaus, valleys, and a river system that creates diverse habitats for wildlife.

Current Tiger Population in Chhattisgarh

  1. As of now, the state has a total of 30 tigers, including three sub-adults and two cubs.
  2. Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve currently houses five to six tigers.
  3. However, the state’s tiger population has declined over the years, from 46 tigers in 2014 to only 17 in 2022, according to the latest National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) report released in 2023.

Plans to Boost the Tiger Population

  1. Tigress Relocation: To address the tiger population imbalance, the government plans to relocate tigresses from Bandhavgarh and Sanjay Dubri Tiger Reserves in Madhya Pradesh to the Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Reserve.
  2. Other Measures: Establishing rapid response teams, building strong relationships with local villagers, developing informant-based wildlife protection systems, deploying full-time guards for constant vigilance.

Conservation Efforts and Preparations

  1. Tiger Conservation Plan (TCP): The reserve authorities are preparing a comprehensive Tiger Conservation Plan (TCP) to address challenges and ensure the reserve becomes a sustainable tiger habitat. The TCP includes:
  1. Improving connectivity with MP, which has a rising tiger population.
  2. Developing grasslands and water bodies to increase the prey base, including translocating animals like cheetal and wild boars from other parts of the state.
  3. Wildlife corridor development to facilitate tiger migration and reduce human-wildlife conflict.

  1. Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation:

  1. The reserve includes 42 sparsely populated villages.
  2. Authorities are working on voluntary relocation options for these residents and providing employment opportunities, especially in eco-tourism activities like tour guiding, homestays, boating, and handicrafts.

Future Plans and Challenges

  1. Cheetah Reintroduction: Wildlife activists have suggested the reintroduction of cheetahs, similar to efforts in Madhya Pradesh.
  2. While the cheetah population is extinct in the region, conservationists are hopeful about reintroducing this species.

India’s Contribution to Global Tiger Conservation

  1. India is home to 75% of the global tiger population, with 3,682 tigers as per the 2022 census.
  2. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) conducts a tiger census across India every 4 years.
  3. Madhya Pradesh leads with 785 tigers, followed by Karnataka and Uttarakhand.
  4. Conservation status:
  1. IUCN Red List: Endangered
  2. Wildlife Protection Act: Schedule 1
  3. CITES: Appendix 1

Procedure for Declaring a Tiger Reserve

  1. Proposal by State Government: Identification of ecologically significant areas with tiger populations.
  1. Preparation of a comprehensive conservation plan and submitted to NTCA.
  1. Approval by NTCA: The proposal is reviewed and granted in-principle approval if found suitable.
  2. Official Notification: The state government formally declares the area as a tiger reserve under Section 38V of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
  3. Monitoring and Evaluation: Initiatives are launched to manage the reserve, enhance ecosystems, and benefit local communities and continuous evaluation is done by NTCA.

What is Project Tiger?

  1. Project Tiger was launched by the Indian government in 1973, as a conservation initiative aimed at protecting the country's rapidly dwindling tiger population.
  2. At the time, India’s tiger population was critically low due to rampant hunting and poaching.

Background

  1. Declining Tiger Population: Before Independence, India was home to around 40,000 tigers. By the 1970s, this number had dropped to below 2,000, primarily due to hunting, poaching, and habitat loss.
  2. Endangered Status: In 1970, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) declared tigers as endangered species. A 1972 census confirmed the tiger population at a mere 1,800.
  3. Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: This Act laid the foundation for tiger conservation and wildlife protection in India.
  4. International Tiger Day: Celebrated annually on July 29 to raise awareness about tiger conservation.

Launch of Project Tiger

  1. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s Vision: Following recommendations from a task force, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi unveiled Project Tiger in 1973.
  2. Initial Launch: Officially launched at Jim Corbett National Park.
  1. Initially, nine tiger reserves were established across different states: Assam, Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.
  2. These reserves covered over 14,000 square kilometers.
  1. Holistic Approach: The project emphasized protecting both tigers and their habitats to ensure ecological balance.

Progress and Challenges

  1. Tiger Population Growth: By the 1990s, the tiger population increased to around 3,000.
  1. However, poaching incidents, such as those at Sariska Tiger Reserve in 2005, underscored the need for stricter conservation measures.
  1. Reconstitution of Project Tiger: In 2005, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh established a task force to reshape conservation efforts.
  1. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) was formed to oversee tiger protection and habitat management.

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