UNESCO declares Panna Tiger Reserve a biosphere reserve
The UNESCO announced that Panna Tiger Reserve is a critical tiger habitat.
Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR) in Madhya Pradesh (MP) was included in the global network of biosphere reserves by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) last week.
The UNESCO’s recognition stated that Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh “has undergone substantial ecosystem restoration in the buffer zone. With only three urban centres and over 300 villages, agriculture is the main source of income together with horticulture, forestry and cultural and eco-tourism.”
In 2008, after more than a decade of it becoming a tiger reserve in 1994, the number of tigers in the reserve had fallen from 40 to zero, primarily due to poaching. Due to concerted efforts by officials, conservationists and locals, however, the situation was turned around. The Tiger Reintroducion Project in 2009, in which a male and a female tiger were reintroduced, led to the number of tigers increasing to 52 within 10 years.
Despite the success of PTR, the problem of poaching remains.
The other Indian reserves recognised by UNESCO as global bioreserves are Nilgiri, Gulf of Mannar, Sunderban, Nanda Devi, Nokrek, Pachmarhi, Similipal, Achanakmar-Amarkantak, Great Nicobar, Agasthyamala, and Khangchendzonga.
