{"id":59366,"date":"2025-11-18T11:34:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T06:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=59366"},"modified":"2025-11-19T13:39:40","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T08:09:40","slug":"supreme-court-prohibited-tiger-safaris-in-core-tiger-habitats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/18-11-2025\/supreme-court-prohibited-tiger-safaris-in-core-tiger-habitats","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court Prohibited Tiger Safaris in Core Tiger Habitats"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/Environment, Conservation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Supreme Court has issued directions to <strong>prohibit tiger safaris in the core or critical tiger habitat.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A PIL was filed complaining about the <strong>various violations at the Corbett reserve for commercial exploitation in the name of tourism.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Directions By SC<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Sensitive Zones:<\/strong> SC directed all states <strong>to notify the buffer and core areas <\/strong>of the tiger reserve <strong>within six months.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Notify <strong>eco-sensitive zones (ESZs)<\/strong> around all tiger reserves, including buffer and fringe areas, no later than one year from the date of judgement.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>TCP Plans:<\/strong> The bench noted that from nine tiger reserves in 1973, the expanse of Project Tiger has increased to <strong>58 reserves across India.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Directions were given to prepare a <strong>Tiger Conservation Plan (TCP) within three months.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) <\/strong>shall monitor the TCPs are put in place and whether the Steering Committees have been meeting <strong>at least twice a year.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Tiger Safaris: <\/strong>The Supreme Court has <strong>prohibited tiger safaris in core tiger habitats,<\/strong> mandating them only on non-forest land with rescue centers for conflict animals and using electric vehicles.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Designating HAC as Natural Disaster: <\/strong>SC suggested the states to actively consider classifying human-wildlife conflict as \u201cnatural disaster\u201d and to ensure payment of Rs 10 lakh as ex gratia for every human death caused in such incidents.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Uttar Pradesh<\/strong> has already notified the human-wildlife conflict as a natural disaster.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It would enable faster disbursal of funds, immediate access to disaster management resources and clearer administrative accountability.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Guidelines for HAC: <\/strong>It directed the NTCA to frame model guidelines on human-wildlife conflict within six months.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It fixed a six-month timeline for the states to implement the guidelines.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Prohibited Activities: <\/strong>In the buffer and fringe areas of a tiger reserve it banned:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>commercial mining, setting up of saw mills, industries causing pollution, establishment of major hydroelectric projects and activities related to tourism.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Activities Allowed: <\/strong>Regulated activities such as:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>establishment of hotels and resorts as per approved tourism prescriptions,&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>commercial use of natural water resources including ground water harvesting,&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>fencing of premises of hotels and lodges, widening of roads,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>and movement of vehicular traffic at night.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Core Zone &amp; Buffer Zone of Biosphere Reserves<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It is a large area of land or water that is recognised and protected by<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/23-07-2025\/us-to-pull-out-of-unesco\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/23-07-2025\/us-to-pull-out-of-unesco\"> <strong>UNESCO<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The main objective of a biosphere reserve is to promote sustainable development through the conservation of biodiversity, cultural heritage, and sustainable use of natural resources.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A biosphere reserve may cover multiple <strong>national parks and sanctuaries.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The biosphere reserve typically includes<strong> three zones:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Core zone:<\/strong> A strictly protected area where human activities are not allowed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Buffer zone:<\/strong> An area where limited human activities are allowed, including research and eco-tourism.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Transition zone: <\/strong>An area where sustainable development is encouraged, such as farming, forestry, and other human activities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Human-Wildlife Conflict<\/strong><br>&#8211; Human-wildlife conflict is when encounters between humans and wildlife lead to negative results, <strong>such as loss of property, livelihoods, and even life.&nbsp;<\/strong><br><strong>Reasons\/ Factors causing Human-Animal conflict<\/strong><br>&#8211; Urbanisation &amp; Development<br>&#8211; Lack of Protected areas<br>&#8211; Population explosion<br>&#8211; Deforestation<br>&#8211; Agricultural expansion<br>&#8211; Climate change&nbsp;<br>&#8211; Invasive species<br>&#8211; Increase in eco-tourism<br>&#8211; Substantial increase in the population of prolific breeders like wild boars and peacocks.<br><strong>Impacts of Human-Animal conflict<\/strong><br>&#8211; Decline and potential eradication of species.<br>&#8211; Financial losses and threats to health and safety, livelihoods, food security, and property.<br>&#8211; Displacement and forced migration.<br>&#8211; Increase in road and railway accidents due to infrastructure development in forested areas.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/theprint.in\/judiciary\/tiger-safaris-only-in-non-forest-land-or-degraded-forest-land-not-in-core-habitats-says-sc\/2786482\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Context<\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The Supreme Court has issued directions to prohibit tiger safaris in the core or critical tiger habitat.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>Directions By SC<\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Sensitive Zones: SC directed all states to notify the buffer and core areas of the tiger reserve within six months.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Notify eco-sensitive zones (ESZs) around all tiger reserves, including buffer and fringe areas, no later than one year from the date of judgement.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">TCP Plans: The bench noted that from nine tiger reserves in 1973, the expanse of Project Tiger has increased to 58 reserves across India.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Directions were given to prepare a Tiger Conservation Plan (TCP) within three months.<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/18-11-2025\/supreme-court-prohibited-tiger-safaris-in-core-tiger-habitats\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read\u00a0More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59366"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59386,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59366\/revisions\/59386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}