National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA ): Objectives, Functions, Members
By BYJU'S Exam Prep
Updated on: November 14th, 2023
The NTCA (National Tiger Conservation Authority) came into existence in December 2005. National Tiger Conservation Authority was established on the recommendation of the Tiger Task Force and was initiated by the Prime Minister of India for the efficient functioning of Project Tiger. In addition to conservation through national parks and sanctuaries, the NTCA establishes standard guidelines and principles for tiger protection in the tiger reserves of India.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority(NTCA) is a very important part of UPSC GS 2 and an integral statutory body. Several questions have been asked about the progress and updates with respect to NTCA. That’s why we have covered all the important information related to NTCA that would help the UPSC aspirants in their preparation.
Table of content
What is the NTCA?
The NTCA full form is National Tiger Conservation Authority is a major statutory entity formed to protect tigers in our country. NTCA falls under the purview of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, which was established per the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972, as revised in the year 2006, to improve the tiger population as well as to carry out the duties entrusted to it by the act above.
According to the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972, the NTCA has been carrying out its obligations to boost tiger conservation in the nation by maintaining a watchful eye through advisories and prescriptive guidelines based on evaluations of tiger population status, ongoing wildlife conservation efforts, and recommendations from particularly established committees.
NTCA Overview
|
National Tiger Conservation Authority Overview |
|
|
NTCA Full Form |
National Tiger Conservation Authority |
|
NTCA Chairman |
National Tiger Conservation Authority Chairman is Minister for Environment & Forests |
|
National Tiger Conservation Authority Headquarters |
New Delhi |
Tiger Conservation In India – NTCA & Project Tiger
Before the NTCA was founded, a programme was launched in 1973, the Tiger Protection Programme, which popularly came to be known as Project Tiger. It was an initiative started by the government of India in association with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
Tiger Protection Program or the Project Tiger
The Indian government launched Project Tiger in 1973 as a groundbreaking effort to preserve its national animal before NTCA. Project Tiger now spans over 51 tiger reserves in India, ranging throughout 18 of the Indian states where tigers are found, which is an increased count as compared to only being in the 9 states in its early years. This equates to about 2.23% of our nation’s total geographical size.
The core/buffer technique was used to establish the tiger reserves. The buffer region or peripheral regions, or a mixture of forest and non-forest territory, is maintained as mixed-use areas, while the core regions have the legal label of being a sanctuary or a national park.
National Tiger Conservation Authority Established
The NTCA came into existence in 2005 (December). It was established on the recommendation of the Tiger Task Force and was initiated by the Prime Minister of India for the efficient functioning of Project Tiger.
Tiger Task Force
The abrupt exodus of tigers from the Sariska wildlife reserve was widely reported in the media in 2005, and the then Prime Minister of India immediately established the Tiger Task Force to improve the country‘s tiger conservation efforts. The widespread media coverage led to the false idea that all of India’s major national parks and wildlife refuges are experiencing the same problem. Tigers are regarded as the most dreadful predators in the world and represent our nation’s wilderness. Thus, the major concern over the decline in the tiger population mandated the creation of a special task group.
Objectives of NTCA
The objectives of NTCA are mentioned below.
- Giving Project Tiger formal authority makes following its instructions legal.
- NTCA aims to create a foundation for MoUs with states inside our federal system, encouraging the centre’s and the state’s accountability in managing tiger reserves.
- Enabling parliamentary oversight is another objective of NTCA.
- Acknowledging the needs of locals for survival in the locations near the tiger reserves.
Functions of NTCA
- The NTCA plays an integral role in accepting the state government’s strategy for tiger conservation. It aims to study and appraise many elements of sustainable ecology and forbid any biologically unsustainable land usage patterns, including mining, industrialization, and other enterprises, inside tiger reserves.
- NTCA periodically establishes standardized guidelines for tourism endeavours and Project Tiger guidelines for tiger conservation in the tiger reserves’ core and buffer areas and verifies their proper compliance. In addition to laying the audit report before Parliament, the NTCA would also be expected to prepare an annual report.
- It includes management strategies and tactics for resolving human-wildlife conflict in the operational plan code, emphasizing coexistence in our forest regions beyond the national parks, sanctuaries, and tiger reserves.
- NTCA conjunction with future conservation plans, tiger estimation, disease monitoring, mortality assessments, patrolling, reports on suspicious activities, and other management facets as it may be judged appropriate, it would also offer information on protective measures such as plans for conservation.
- Some functions of the NTCA include approving, coordinating, and monitoring research on tigers, co-predators, prey sites, and ecological, sociological, and economic measurement parameters.
- National Tiger Conservation Authority aims to prevent the tiger reserves and zones connecting one conservation area or tiger reserve to another protected region or tiger reserve from being shifted for environmentally unsustainable purposes unless doing so is in the general public’s benefit, with the consent of the national board of wildlife, and on the recommendation of the Tiger Conservation Authority.
- NTCA also aims to promote similar programmes in surrounding regions following the state laws and central laws and to enable and promote the management of tiger reserves in the state for biodiversity conservation projects via ecological development and community engagement, as per authorized action plans.
Need for NTCA
The NTCA is required to perform the following functions:
- Notifying the states when necessary by sending information about poachers and urging the states to search the forest floor for sneers and crops.
- Assisting states in their anti-poaching efforts can be possible through NTCA.
- National Tiger Conservation Authority installed thermal cameras at the national parks as a part of upgraded surveillance technologies.
- Establishing camera trap surveillance at the Tiger reserve level to maintain a database of each Tiger’s photo identification can be done with the help of NTCA.
National Tiger Conservation Authority Members
The NTCA would consist of the following:
- (Chairperson) The Head of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC),
- (Vice-Chairperson) The State Head of the MoEFCC,
- Secretary MoEFCC,
- Three members of the Parliament,
- Eight professionals with training in wildlife conservation and tribal welfare,
- Director-General, MoEFCC,
- Director of Wildlife Preservation, MoEFCC,
- Secretary of Tribal Affairs Ministry and Social Justice Ministry,
- Six Chief wildlife wardens,
- Chairperson of the National Commission for the Scheduled Tribes and National Commission for the Scheduled Caste,
- Secretary of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
NTCA UPSC
The NTCA UPSC is a very crucial topic for the UPSC exam GS II syllabus. It is very important to keep in sync with the current affairs and news, along with the study material provided, to learn about all the updates regarding the NTCA.
National Tiger Conservation Authority is a part of the environment section of the UPSC Syllabus and must be prepared effectively for the upcoming IAS Exam. To ensure that all related topics are covered, applicants can refer to appropriate UPSC Books.
NTCA UPSC Question
You can also download the UPSC previous year question papers for practice.
Question: Read the following statements regarding the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA):
- The NTCA is established under the Environment Protection Act.
- It is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change.
- The NTCA is in charge of Project Tiger.
Select the correct statements
- 1 and 2
- 2 and 3
- 1 and 3
- All of the above
Answer: (B)
