In News
- Recently, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) approved the Chhattisgarh government’s proposal to declare the combined areas of the Guru Ghasidas National Park and Tamor Pingla Wildlife Sanctuary as a Tiger Reserve.
- NTCA is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, established in 2005 for strengthening tiger conservation
About
- Location: Northern part of Chhattisgarh, bordering Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand.
- This will be the fourth Tiger Reserve in Chhattisgarh, after the Udanti-Sitanadi, Achanakmar, and Indravati Reserves.
- The NTCA’s 11th Technical Committee approved the proposal under Section 38V(1) of The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
- Background
- The Tamor Pingla Wildlife Sanctuary was added to the Sarguja Jashpur Elephant Reserve in 2011.
- The Guru Ghasidas National Park used to be part of the Sanjay National Park in undivided Madhya Pradesh.
- Both were identified as reserve forests, and had been in line to be notified as Tiger Reserve since 2011.
- However, local resistance in Bhoramdeo forced the government to put the plan on the backburner in 2018.
Significance and Importance
- Guru Ghasidas National Park is significant as it is the Asiatic cheetah’s last-known habitat in India.
- Wildlife activists and experts believe that converting Guru Ghasidas into a Tiger Reserve is an important step as it connects Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand and provides the tigers with a corridor to move between the Palamau and Bandhavgarh reserves.
Source:IE
