Adventure & Wildlife Magazine - Vol 1|Issue 5-6| Nov 16 - Jan 17 Vol 1|Issue 5-6| Nov 16 - Jan 17 | Page 86

ADVENTURE & WILDLIFE
6 tiger reserves worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore, says valuation study
I
ndia has 47 tiger reserves covering over 2% of the area
and approximately 10% of the recorded forest area.
In a first of its kind exercise, India has conducted
economic valuation of six of its tiger reserves and placed
their value at Rs 1,49,900 crore. The study has also
noted that these six reserves have been generating annual
monetary benefits worth Rs 7,970 crore.
The report shows that Periyar tiger reserve has the
highest annual flow benefits (Rs 1,760 crore), followed
by Kanha (Rs 1,650 crore) and Corbett (Rs 1,470 crore).
The study is expected to assist policy makers in
appreciating the economics of tiger conservation and
may be considered by them while taking a call on any
project in future.
The six tiger reserves which were surveyed for this study “The study, which is a first of its kind not only in the
are Corbett, Kanha,Kaziranga, Periyar, Ranthambore country but across the world, is a commendable attempt
and Sundarbans.
to provide an assessment of economic benefits from tiger
reserves across a range of tiger landscape in India,” said
India has 47 tiger reserves covering over 2% of the area Javadekar.
and approximately 10% of the recorded forest area.
Latest tiger census, released on Tuesday, shows that India The experts while calculating the economic value of
- which is home to 70% of world’s tiger population - has these six tiger reserves took into account the monetary
a total of 2,226 tigers.
estimates of a range of “ecosystem services” including
water provisioning, gene-pool protection, carbon
The valuation study, executed by Indian Institute of storage and sequestration among others tangible and
Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal, at the behest of the intangible benefits. Potential of employment generation
environment ministry’s National Tiger Conservation and tourism had also been factored in while conducting
Authority(NTCA), provides quantitative & qualitative the valuation exercise.
estimates of benefits accruing from tiger reserves which
include economic, social and cultural services.
The findings may provide justification for enhanced
investment in such areas which are critical to ensure flow
“The study findings indicate that the monetary value of vital life-supporting ecological, economic, social and
of flow benefits emanating from selected tiger reserves cultural services from these genetic repositories.
range from Rs 830 crore to Rs 1,760 crore annually. In
terms of unit area, this translates into Rs 50,000 to Rs “The findings will assist the policy makers appreciating
190,000 per hectare per year,” said the summary of the the economics of tiger conservation in India and help in
report released simultaneously with the tiger census by developing and further strengthening policy frameworks
the Union environment and forests minister Prakash for conservation of natural eco-systems”, said the 284
Javadekar on Tuesday.
page report titled ‘Economic Valuation of Tiger Reserves
in India: A Value plus Approach’.
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Vol 1|Issue 5-6|Nov 16 - Jan 17