Editing Project Tiger (section)

== History and objectives ==
{{Wildlife of India}}
Project Tiger was initiated in 1973 by the [[Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change]] of the [[Government of India]]. The project was initiated to protect the [[Bengal Tiger]] and its habitats and to establish dedicated [[Tiger reserves of India|tiger reserves]] for sustaining tiger populations.<ref name="PT">{{cite web|title=Project Tiger|publisher=National Tiger Conservation Authority|url=https://ntca.gov.in/about-us/#project-tiger|access-date=1 April 2024|archive-date=5 April 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240405081950/https://ntca.gov.in/about-us/#project-tiger|url-status=live}}</ref> As per the section 38 of the [[Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972]], the state governments are responsible for preparing a Tiger Conservation Plan which includes planning and management of notified areas and maintaining the requisite competent staff to ensure the protection of the tiger reserve and providing inputs for maintaining a viable population of tigers, co-predators and prey animals.<ref name="Reserve">{{cite report |title=Tiger reserves |publisher=National Tiger Conservation Authority |url=https://ntca.gov.in/tiger-reserves/#tiger-reserves-2 |access-date=1 April 2024 |archive-date=18 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240318135018/https://ntca.gov.in/tiger-reserves/#tiger-reserves-2 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="guidelines">{{cite web |url=http://projecttiger.nic.in/COMPENDIUM%20OF%20GUIDELINES.pdf |title=Project Tiger |publisher=Government of India |access-date=22 January 2016 |archive-date=2 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002055640/http://projecttiger.nic.in/COMPENDIUM%20OF%20GUIDELINES.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

Tiger reserves consist of a core area which includes part(s) of protected areas such as a [[national park]] or a [[wildlife sanctuary]] and a buffer zone which is a mix of forested and non-forested land. Project tiger is aimed at performing the necessary activities to ensure viability of tiger population in the core area and to promote a balance between the existence of people and animals in the buffer zones.<ref name="PT"/> In 2006, [[National Tiger Conservation Authority]] was formed to administer the tiger reserves which were set up as a part of Project Tiger with Project Tiger becoming a centrally sponsored scheme (CSS) to provide funding for the establishment and administration of the tiger reserves.<ref name="PT"/>

In 1973, nine protected areas were initially designated as tiger reserves. By the late 1980s, the initial nine reserves covering an area of {{cvt|9115|km2}} had been increased to 15 reserves covering an area of {{cvt|24700|km2}}.<ref>{{cite book |author=Panwar, H. S. |year=1987 |chapter=Project Tiger: The reserves, the tigers, and their future |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YdC-wfyZwZEC&pg=PA110 |pages=110–117 |title=Tigers of the world: the biology, biopolitics, management, and conservation of an endangered species |editor1-last=Tilson, R. L. |editor2-last=Sel, U. S. |publisher=Minnesota Zoological Garden, IUCN/SSC Captive Breeding Group, IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group |location=Park Ridge, N.J. |isbn=978-0-815-51133-5 |access-date=19 November 2020 |archive-date=31 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331152818/https://books.google.com/books?id=YdC-wfyZwZEC&pg=PA110 |url-status=live }}</ref> By 1997, 23 tiger reserves encompassed an area of {{cvt|33000|km2}}.<ref>{{cite book |editor1=Seidensticker, J. |editor2=Christie, S. |editor3=Jackson, P. |year=1999 |title=Riding the Tiger. Tiger Conservation in human-dominated landscapes |publisher=Cambridge University Press |place=Cambridge |isbn=0-521-64057-1 |author=Thapar, V. |chapter=The tragedy of the Indian tiger: starting from scratch |pages=296–306}}</ref> As of December 2024, there are 57 [[protected area]]s that have been designated as tiger reserves.<ref name="Reserve"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/ratapani-mp-tiger-reserve-protected-areas-9708543/|title=With Ratapani in MP declared India’s latest tiger reserve, all about the protected areas|date=5 December 2024|access-date=1 January 2025|newspaper=[[The Indian Express]]|quote=On December 2, India got its 57th tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh’s Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary...}}</ref>