SYLLABUS

GS-3: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation.

Context: International Tiger Day, observed annually on 29 July, highlights the need for global tiger conservation while recognising India's remarkable success in protecting the world's largest wild tiger population.

About International Tiger Day

• International Tiger Day, also known as Global Tiger Day or World Tiger Day, was established in 2010 at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit in Russia.
• During the summit, the 13 tiger-range countries, including India, adopted the ambitious Tx2 Goal to double the global wild tiger population by 2022 after the global wild tiger population had declined to nearly 3,200.
• It serves as a global platform to raise awareness, strengthen international cooperation and review progress in tiger conservation.
• According to recent global estimates, approximately 5,711 wild tigers remain worldwide.

India's Conservation Effort Toward Tigers

• Tiger Census: The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), in collaboration with States, conducts the quadrennial All India Tiger Estimation (AITE), the world's largest biodiversity survey.
  According to the 2022 Tiger Estimation, India's tiger population increased to 3,682 from 2,967 in 2018, accounting for nearly 70% of the world's wild tigers.
  The 2022 assessment covered 20 States and surveyed over 41 lakh kilometres on foot using camera traps and scientific field monitoring.
• Science-Based Monitoring: India has adopted advanced technologies such as M-STrIPES, Camera Trap Data Repository and Analysis Tool (CaTRAT), ExtractCompare, GPS-enabled monitoring, remote sensing and Artificial Intelligence to improve tiger monitoring, habitat assessment and evidence-based conservation planning.
• Landscape-Based Conservation: India follows a landscape-based conservation approach through Core Areas (Critical Tiger Habitats), Buffer Areas and wildlife corridors to maintain viable tiger populations.
  The Government has also launched the Tigers Outside Tiger Reserves (TOTR) initiative to conserve tigers beyond protected areas, recognising that 35–40% of India's tigers now live outside designated tiger reserves.

Key Government Initiatives

• Project Tiger: Launched in 1973, Project Tiger is a flagship Centrally Sponsored Scheme implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
  India has notified 58 Tiger Reserves across 18 tiger-range States, covering around 84,500 sq. km. or nearly 2.5% of the country's geographical area.
  The scheme supports habitat protection, scientific management, anti-poaching measures and capacity building.
• National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA): NTCA implements Project Tiger, approves Tiger Conservation Plans (TCPs), and provides scientific, technical and financial support to tiger-range States.
  It also follows a three-pronged strategy to manage human-tiger conflict.
• Tiger Task Force: Constituted to review India's tiger conservation framework, the Tiger Task Force recommended reforms to strengthen Project Tiger, improve transparency and promote community participation.
• Its recommendations led to the establishment of the NTCA and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) through the 2006 amendment to the Wildlife (Protection) Act.
• Human-Tiger Conflict Management: The Government provides financial assistance for compensation, rapid response teams, early-warning systems and conflict mitigation under the Development of Wildlife Habitats and Project Tiger and Elephant
  In December 2023, ex-gratia relief for death or permanent incapacitation due to wild animal attacks was increased from ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh.
• Global Leadership: India strengthens international tiger conservation through the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA), Global Tiger Forum (GTF) and Integrated Tiger Habitat Conservation Programme (ITHCP).
  Further, 23 Indian tiger reserves are accredited under the globally recognised Conservation Assured Tiger Standards (CA|TS).