In news- The 14 Tiger Reserves in India received the accreditation of the Global Conservation Assured|Tiger Standards (CA|TS).
- CA|TS has been agreed upon as an accreditation tool by the global coalition of Tiger Range Countries (TRCs) and has been developed by tiger and protected area experts.
- Officially it was launched in 2013.
- CA|TS is a set of criteria which allows tiger sites to check if their management will lead to successful tiger conservation.
- It sets minimum standards for effective management of target species and encourages assessment of these standards in relevant conservation areas.
- It is being implemented across 125 sites, including 94 in India, in seven tiger range countries.
- The aspects monitored for accreditation include the importance and status of a reserve, management, community participation, tourism, protection, habitat management, and tiger populations.
- The accreditation has been granted to 14 reserves in India, one each in Nepal, Bhutan, and Russia.
- The 14 reserves are Manas, Kaziranga, and Orang (Assam); Sundarbans (West Bengal); Valmiki (Bihar); Dudhwa (Uttar Pradesh); Panna, Kanha, Satpuda and Pench (Madhya Pradesh); Anamalai and Mudumalai (Tamil Nadu); Parambikulam (Kerala) and Bandipur (Karnataka).
- The Global Tiger Forum (GTF), an international NGO working on tiger conservation, and World Wildlife Fund India are the two implementing partners of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) for CATS assessment in India.
International Tiger Day-
- It is celebrated on July 29 every year to generate awareness regarding the dwindling population of the species.
- 2022, which happens to be Chinese year of the Tiger, has been marked as the year when WWF aims to help double the number of wild tigers to over 6,000.
- Currently the total population of tigers around the world is known to be at 3,900.
India is home to 51 tiger reserves spread across 18 states. India achieved the target of doubling the tiger population 4 years ahead of schedule of the St. Petersburg Declaration on tiger Conservation. In 2010, India had 1,706 tigers. They more than doubled to 2,967 by 2018, according to the Tiger Census.
Source: PIB
