MEE TR Web Portal

Introduction

The fifth cycle of Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) of Melghat Tiger Reserve (TR) was conducted by a committee comprising Shri Brij Kishore Singh Retd PCCF (HoFF) Karnataka} as Chairperson and Dr. Anup Kumar Naik (Retd. Member Secretary, NTCA), Sh. Surendra Kumar (Retd. CWLW, Kerala) and Sh. Sanjay Kumar Srivastava (Retd. PCCF (apex scale), Tamil Nadu) as members. The Chairman and members of the team arrived at Nagpur and proceeded to Amaravati on 20 September 2022. Ms Jayoti Banerjee, Field Director, Melghat Tiger Reserve made a presentation explaining different activities undertaken by the management for conservation and development of biodiversity in the TR area. Thereafter the team went for field visits in all three divisions of the tiger reserve and the buffer division till 24 September, 2022. During the more than four days long field visit, the team visited village relocation works, habitat improvement works, viewed grassland development and functioning of protection camps, research station on forest owlet at Chaurakund, management of tourism areas and interaction with communities. The Chairman jogged with the forest staff at Chikaldara on 22 September at 0630 hrs for one hour. The forest personnel of Chickaldara Range were generally found to be physically quite fit.

Management Strengths:

The TR is a large forested landscape with a good buffer around the core area and supports many rivulets of the River Tapi.
The TR receives good support from local people, particularly in buffer areas, where there are homestay facilities adventure tourism has been taken up with their participation. Hired specialists like a livelihood expert, eco-tourism manager, M-STRiPES expert, and computer teacher engaged from the Foundation are doing a good job. An exemplary livelihood initiative through the development of the skills of local youth is in place through the efforts of the management.

Management Weaknesses:

In the last ten years, TR has lost 19.36 km² of its forest cover, according to the most recent ISFR 2021. The TR management has not conducted any research to map the area of losses or to identify the causes of such losses.
The economic values of TR are not well monitored.
The relocation of six villages has been going on for a while. After the MEE of the IV cycle, no notable advancements have been made. One family resides in Pili village, and the management has not made sufficient attempts to remove that family. Similarly, Pastalai only has five families left, and it is said that left-wing extremism supports them. The priority of the entire state administration, not only the TR management, is to remove these families.
Three roads in Sipna Division in the core area of the TR are all being considered for renovation: the Chaurakund–Khopan–Kholmar road, Karanjkheda–Hatru–Raipur–Semadoh Road (Part 3) and Karanjkheda–Hatru–Raipur–Semadoh Road (Part II). After a visit from the CEC, a suggestion is anticipated. Making the TR independent of the communities would be challenging.
The MEE crew examined the tiger reserve's Sipna, Gugamal, and Akot divisions' Chaurakund, Harishal, and Shahnur ranges' forest offence registers. Aside from grazing and fire-related offences, cases involving illegal felling of teak and other timber species, as well as pole crops manufactured from these species, have also been reported, but no steps have been taken to identify the perpetrators or to bring them to justice.

Immediate Actionable Points:

The decadal assessment of change in forest cover within Melghat Tiger Reserve (MTR) by Forest Survey of India, Dehradun during the period between IFSR 2011 (2008–09 satellite data) and IFSR 2021 (2019–20 satellite data) was carried out primarily to assess the impact of various conservation measures and management interventions during the period. As per the change analysis matrix, it is observed that the forest cover during IFSR 2011 was recorded as 1866.34 km² and in IFSR 2021 as 1846.98 km² with an overall loss of 19.36 km² (-1.04%). As per the above data, without going into the details of the areas of change in the canopy class (>10%), there is an urgent need to verify the locations where a loss of 19.36 km² has been reported by the acquisition of data from FSI and analysing the same in the spatial domain and taking corrective measures.
As per the report titled ‘Status of Tigers, Co-predators and Prey in India, 2018’, the sambar was fthe most abundant ungulate, with a density of 2.55/km², but the same appears to have gone down in the subsequent enumerations: 2.07/km² (2019) and 1.60/km² (2020). Similar reductions are observed in the chital, barking deer and nilgai, whereas increases are seen in the gaur and wild pig. Also, during the same period, substantial livestock depredation is also seen with 138 nos (2018), 113 nos (2019) and 77 nos (2020) in the 3-year period. However, there is now a decreasing trend, i.e., livestock depredation. Considering the low prey base, the related livestock depredation and the subsequent resettlement of the villages, it is all the more relevant to plot the prey–predator population and livestock depredation in a spatial domain on the LULC map and the same needs to be monitored for any management intervention.
During the inspection of the Memna, Vairat, Gularghat, Dhargad, Kelpani and Bori rehabilitation sites after the relocation of villages from the core of the TR, very good natural grasslands for ungulates and bovids were observed. At the same time, the habitat utilization by wildlife in the relocated sites appears to be quite restricted. It should be borne in mind that the chital population, though the animal is a prolific breeder, is abysmally low in in the reserve and may need management interventions.
Melghat Tiger Reserve has a good network of anti-poaching camps (APCs) in the sensitive areas and fringes, with the basic facilities required by the protection staff. During the visit, the APCs at Harisal, Memana, Morjhari and Narnala were inspected. The camps are located at vantage points and have the requisite facilities. However, the camps do require a changed strategy in terms of wildlife offence detection, with the establishment of an intelligence network, keeping in view the low prey base and the related availability of suitable wildlife habitats in the reserve. Besides, some the APCs need to be equipped with proper gear. The Anti-poaching Watchers need to be supplied uniforms, and the officers need to carry out regular monitoring and inspection. The patrolling staff are contracted for a short duration, and they generally lack the required patrolling equipment.
Melghat Tiger Reserve has a fire management plan with a dedicated fire control unit in place. As part of the forest fire management, a fire sensitivity map has been prepared for fire prevention. It is a known fact that all fires in the reserve are man-made and there has been a reduction in the incidences over the last few years; still, the fires in Melghat require intensive management due to their deleterious effect on the wildlife habitat. It is suggested that a strategy be developed based not only on a sensitivity/vulnerability map but also on quantifying various causative factors for having a geo-information system approach to developing forest fire likelihood and envisaging steps for a more focused preventive strategy.
Melghat Tiger Reserve has many seasonal rivers with boulder beds and major rainwater is lost as runoff, and hence, water becomes a limiting factor in habitat utilization and wildlife distribution. Many measures have been taken by the Reserve for providing access to natural water sources as well as creation of artificial water sources but it also needs to focus on the conjunctive use of surface water and ground water resources in water management. The vesicles and amygdaloids of basalt along with perched water table on plateau area (Chikaldhara, Makhla)in the Deccan trap soil serve as good ground water sources and same could be replenished by percolation trenches for utilization during the pinch-period by tapping such aquifers. The underground reservoirs/resources could be identified with the help of the Ground Water Board or using remote sensing technology or in collaboration with some research institution for developing an integrated water management and utilisation plan for the wildlife.
As per the summary report on the status of tigers, co-predators and prey in India (2018) (NTCA, TR No./2019/05), the tigers were increasing at a rate of 6% per annum in India when consistently sampled areas were compared from 2006 to 2018. However, the data in respect of Melghat (MTR) in the last three enumerations indicate an increase by almost 100% in a 4-year cycle as follows: 13 nos. (2010), 25 nos. (2014) and 47 nos. (2018).
It would be worthwhile to plot the last three enumeration’s data in the spatial domain, and the explanation for the two spurts in the population could be substantiated by establishing the prey–predator relationship and habitat considerations.

Download Section:

File Description	Download

Melghat Tiger Reserve

Introduction

Management Strengths:

Management Weaknesses:

Immediate Actionable Points:

Download Section: