WITH NEARLY 30 per cent of the country's estimated 3,682 tigers being reported outside notified reserves, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is learnt to be finalising the contours of the “tigers outside tiger reserves” project. The project seeks to monitor the tiger population outside the reserves, check poaching, address human-animal conflict, focus on community outreach and improve habitat. While the initiative was announced earlier this month, after it was discussed at a meeting of the National Board for Wildlife chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it is learnt to have received the ministry’s in-principle approval. The project has a proposed outlay of Rs 176.45 crore until 2026-27. “Reducing human-animal conflict and stepping up monitoring outside tiger reserves to tackle poaching would be the two key focus areas,” said an official aware of the development. The issue of human-wildlife conflict has been raised in Parliament this session. Tigers recorded outside notified reserves span forests under the control of territorial and wildlife divisions of state forest departments. The dispersal of tigers from notified reserves to forest divisions increases the risk of human-tiger conflict, livestock depredation and poaching. It also pushes co-predators like leopards further outside towards human settlements, which, in turn, adds to the risk of human-wildlife conflict. The new project will seek to address these issues and supplement existing funding provided to states under Project Tiger, said the official. “Wayanad in Kerala, Chandrapur in Maharashtra and Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh are prime examples where there is recurring human-wildlife conflict, and the issue needs to be addressed comprehensively with the engagement of local communities,” the official said. Based on the findings of the all-India tiger estimation held in 2022 and recent trends of human-tiger conflict, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), which will implement the project, has identified 80 forest divisions across 10 states where it will first be rolled out. The ministry has sought funding from the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), which finances afforestation and wildlife conservation projects from funds collected through the felling of forests for development projects. In December, the CAMPA executive committee had asked the ministry to check for overlaps with Project Tiger. The project proposal is likely to be placed again before the authority soon, ministry officials confirmed. According to data shared by the government in Parliament, 378 people were killed due to conflict with tigers between 2020 and 2024, including 110 in 2022 alone. Maharashtra accounted for 218 deaths, followed by Uttar Pradesh (61) and Madhya Pradesh (32). In a report tabled on March 25, the parliamentary standing committee on science and technology, environment, forests and climate change noted that the environment ministry needed additional funding of Rs 70-80 crore to compensate people for wildlife attacks. Also, recent incidents reported from Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra showed that tigers fell prey to poaching outside notified reserves, indicating gaps in monitoring. Currently, India has an estimated 3,628 tigers (upper limit) and 58 tiger reserves. The tiger population is distributed across the landscapes of Shivalik Hills, Terai plains, Central Indian Highlands, Eastern Ghats, Western Ghats, Northeastern hills, Brahmaputra plains and Sundarbans. The Central Indian Highlands and Eastern Ghats have the most tigers, followed by Western Ghats, Shivalik Hills and Terai plains.
