In Effective Management of Tiger Reserve, Satpura Reserve is Second in the Country and Kanha Reserve is Fifth | 11 Apr 2023

Why in News?

On 9 April 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the summary report of the fifth round of Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) in Mysore, Karnataka, ranking Satpura Tiger Reserve second and Kanha Reserve fifth among the top 5 tiger reserves in the country's 51 tiger reserves. The position has been obtained.

Key Points

  • It is worth mentioning that the first place was held by the Periyar Tiger Reserve of Kerala. Its Management Effectiveness Evaluation Score stood at 94.38%. On the other hand, Satpura Tiger Reserve of Madhya Pradesh and Bandipur Tiger Reserve of Karnataka stood in third place. Both had a Management Effectiveness Evaluation score of 93.18%.
  • Apart from this, the Kanha Tiger Reserve of Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh has got the fifth rank and the Pench Tiger Reserve of Seoni has got the eighth rank.
  • Satpura Tiger Reserve has got this rank due to better management, work, and a better team.
  • Ramgarh Vishdhari Tiger Reserve (Rajasthan) and Ranipur Tiger Reserve (Uttar Pradesh) notified in the year 2022 have not been included in this report. Presently there are a total of 53 tiger reserves in the country.
  • Significantly, Management Effectiveness and Evaluation is a third-party assessment, which releases its survey data once in 4 years. In the survey, the assessment team assesses the level of documentation, fieldwork, field staff and interactions with field staff & stakeholders, wildlife enhancement, protection and management systems.
  • The community, streamlining tourism, good infrastructure for both the park and the animals, as well as active wildlife management, are some of the parameters on which the park is judged.
  • Satpura Tiger Reserve
    • Satpura Tiger Reserve located in the Narmadapuram district is spread over 2130 square kilometres. It is part of the Deccan bio-geographic region. This is the country's oldest forest wealth full of unprecedented natural beauty, which has been preserved with great effort.
    • Some species of flora found in the Himalayan region and some species found in the forests of the south are also found in abundance in the forest area of Satpura Tiger Reserve. Some species like insectivorous Ghatparni, Bamboo, Hisalu, and Daruhaldi are found both in Satpura and the Himalayas.
    • There are 50 rock shelters in the hill range of Satpura which are between 1500 to 10 thousand years old. Along with natural importance, they also have archaeological importance. Thus the Satpura Tiger Reserve is the soul of the ecosystem of the central region of the country.
    • There are also plants like acai vat, and wild jasmine, which are not found elsewhere or very rarely. Apart from flora, there are 14 such wild animals whose life is in danger today, yet their habitat remains here, such as flying squirrels.
    • Satpura Tiger Reserve is famous for the presence of tigers and their breeding area. This reserve is one of the areas in central India with a good presence of tigers.
    • 17 percent of the country's tiger population and 12 percent of the tiger habitat area comes from Satpura.
    • The Satpura Tiger Reserve in a way forms a bridge of wildlife presence between the Himalayas and the Western Ghats. It is also an ideal habitat for Malabar Whistling Thrush i.e Oyster Bird, Dudhraj, Malabar Pied Hornbill i.e Dhanesh Bird.