Context: Madhya Pradesh has notified Ratapani forest in Raisen district as a tiger reserve. It is the eighth tiger reserve in the state after Kanha, Satpura, Bandhavgarh, Pench, Sanjay Dubri, Panna and Veerangana Durgavati.
Relevance of the Topic: Prelims- Ratapani Tiger Reserve; Tiger Reserve; key facts about Tiger.
About Ratapani Tiger Reserve (RTR):
- Location: Raisen district, Madhya Pradesh
- Total area of RTR: 1,271.465 sq km
- Key geographical features:
- Located in the Vindhya Range in central India.
- Dry deciduous and moist deciduous type forests, dominated by Teak trees.
- Major water bodies inside RTR: Barna Reservoir and Ratapani Dam (Barrusot lake).
- Key fauna: Tiger, leopard, dhole, sambar, wild boar, sloth bear.
- Bhimbetka rock shelters are located within RTR.
- These rock shelters have rock paintings of the Stone Age that are more than 30,000 years old.
- It has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
What are Tiger Reserves?
- Tiger reserves are legally declared protected areas designated to conserve tigers and their habitats.
- The tiger reserves were set up as a part of Project Tiger initiated in 1973.
- They are administered by the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
- As of December 2024, there are 57 tiger reserves in India.
- The tiger reserves are constituted on a core/buffer strategy.
- The core areas have the legal status of a National Park or a Sanctuary.
- The buffer or peripheral areas are a mix of forest and non-forest land, managed as a multiple use area.
Who notifies Tiger Reserves?
- Tiger Reserves are notified by State Governments as per provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 on advice of the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
- The following steps are involved in the notification:
- The State Government identifies potential areas and submits a proposal to NTCA.
- NTCA reviews the proposal. After thorough evaluation, NTCA recommends the proposal.
- The State Government notifies the area as a Tiger Reserve.
- With the formation of the tiger reserve, NTCA provides funds for the management of Tiger Reserve.
Key Facts about Tiger:
- Tiger is an umbrella species. Its conservation automatically ensures the conversation of a large number of flora and fauna and entire ecosystems.
- India is home to 75% of the global tiger population.
- The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) conducts a tiger census across India every 4 years.
- As per the latest Tiger Census Report (2022), India has 3682 tigers. (2967 in 2018)
- Madhya Pradesh has the highest number of tigers (785) in India, followed by Karnataka (563) and Uttarakhand (560).
- Conservation status:
- IUCN Red List: Endangered
- Wildlife Protection Act: Schedule 1
- CITES: Appendix 1
Read also: List of Tiger Reserves in India
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