GUWAHATI, June 3: Four tiger reserves of Assam have been accorded CATS (Conservation Assured Tiger Standards) accreditation, a development state forest minister Parimal Suklabaidya said would boost conservation efforts of big cats in the state.
The National Committee of Conservation Assured Tiger Standards (CATS) recommended proposals for Kaziranga, Manas, Nameri and Orang Tiger Reserves for CATS accreditation on Wednesday.
The CATS assessment has been conducted by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in 27 Tiger Reserves in the first phase and 24 to be carried out in the second phase.
“All the four Tiger Reserves of Assam under phase one have got CATS accreditation. Only seven proposals were recommended by the National Committee at a meeting held in New Delhi on Wednesday. Besides, four Tiger Reserves of Assam, Kanha, Panna and Sundarbans Tiger Reserves were awarded CAT accreditation,” an official statement said.
“This is also good news for conservationists and animal lovers alike. The CATS certificate will go a long way in further strengthening and improving management interventions insofar as conservation of big cats in Assam is concerned,” Suklabaidya said.
He thanked Union minister for environment and forest, Prakash Javdekar and the members of the National Committee for clearing all the four proposals from his department.
The NTCA sets a benchmark for managing conservation sites through a set of minimum standards based on 17 parameters ranging from social, cultural and biological significance to infrastructure/equipment and from management planning to human-wildlife conflict (HCW) management. On that basis it has given scores of 81.25 percent to Kaziranga, 78.49 percent to Manas, 71.21 percent to Nameri and 74.01 percent to Orang Tiger Reserves.
Launched in 2013, with tigers as the first species selected for the initiative, the conservation tool vis-a-vis CATS was developed in collaboration with field managers, tiger experts and government agencies engaged in tiger conservation.