Context: According to the 5th cycle of Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) carried out by the Centre alongside the Tiger Census, the Periyar Tiger Reserve in Kerala is the best-maintained of all tiger reserves in the country, followed closely by the Satpura Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, Bandipur in Karnataka and Nagarhole in Karnataka.
More facts about MEE Report
- The government has been using the Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) to assess tiger reserves across the country since its inception in 2006.
- The MEE exercise, adopted from the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources' (IUCN's) World Commission on Protected Areas.
- Periyar reserve has obtained an MEE score of 94.3%
- Of these 53 tiger reserves, however, only 51, were evaluated as two newly declared tiger reserves, Ramgarh Visdhari(Rajasthan) and Ranipur(Uttar Pradesh), have not been included in the current cycle of MEE.
- In the 5th cycle, there are 12 Tiger Reserves that have scored 90% in the new category of ‘Excellent’, followed by 20 in the ‘Very Good’ category, 14 in the ‘Good’ category, and 5 in the ‘Fair’ category. None of the country’s tiger reserves was graded as ‘Poor’.
- The report, however, points out that the headline indicator — ‘carbon capture and climate change’ — has received the lowest score in the current cycle, as there is no mandate for it in Tiger Conservation Plans.
About Periyar National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary
- It is a protected area located in the districts of Idukki and Pathanamthitta in Kerala, India.
- The park is located high in the Cardamom Hills and Pandalam Hills of the south Western Ghats along the border with Tamil Nadu.
- It forms the major watershed of two important rivers of Kerala: The Periyar and the Pamba. (Pamba River is the third longest river in the Kerala after Periyar and Bharathappuzha).
- One of the main attractions is the Periyar Lake, which was formed by the Mullaperiyar Dam across the Periyar River.
- It is notable as an elephant reserve and a tiger reserve.
- Fauna: It is valuable for Bengal tigers, Asian elephants, and a few white tigers. Other mammals include the gaur, sambar, wild pig, Indian giant squirrel, Travancore flying squirrel, jungle cat, Dhole, sloth bear, Nilgiri tahr and Nilgiri marten.
- Flora: The vegetal cover is tropical evergreen and deciduous, with patches of dense forest including jackfruit, teak, and kokam (tropical evergreen [Garcinia indica]) trees that produce a dark purple, plumlike fruit). Most of the grassland is now planted with eucalyptus.
About Periyar River
- Periyar is the longest river and the river with the largest discharge potential in the Indian state of Kerala.
- It originates from Sivagiri hills of Western Ghats and flows through the Periyar National Park.
- It flows into Vembanad Lake and finally into Arabian Sea.
- The main tributaries of Periyar are Muthirapuzha, Mullayar, Cheruthoni, Perinjankutti.
Read: Tiger reserve in India