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Introduction

Nagarjunasagar–Srisailam Tiger Reserve (NSTR) is the largest tiger reserve in our country in terms of size. This reserve is located in the Nallamala Hills, which is an offshoot of the Eastern Ghats. Spread over an area of 3728 km² in five revenue districts, this tiger reserve is an abode of rich biodiversity with many endangered plants and animals. The geo-morphology of the habitat is interesting, with plateaus, ridges, gorges and deep valleys, supporting a tropical dry deciduous forest having an undergrowth of bamboo and grass. The Core/Critical Tiger Habitat is 2444.14 km², and the buffer/peripheral area is 1283.36 km². NSTR, Andhra Pradesh (3728 km²) and the adjoining Amrabad TR, Telangana (2611 km²) make a larger landscape having tiger-centric management interventions. NSTR is connected to Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve through forested patches and three protected areas, making it an important tiger-movement landscape. The WII report “Connecting Tiger Population for Long-Term Conservation” has also identified Nagarjunasagar–Sri Venkateswara NP as an important corridor for tiger conservation. The TR management has been able to comply with the important recommendations of the earlier MEE (2018), such as unified control, provision of veterinary facilities, controlling illegal fishing and involving local tribes/communities in protection and other management activities.

Management Strengths:

An offshoot of the southern Eastern Ghats in the state of Andhra Pradesh, NSTR is located in an extremely beautiful, pristine cultural and natural landscape. Nagarjunasagar–Srisailam Tiger Reserve (NSTR) is the largest tiger reserve in India (area 3728 km2).
NSTR (Rajiv Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and Gundla Brahmeswaram (GBM) Wildlife Sanctuary) provides an approach to landscape conservation as it is contiguous with Amrabad Tiger Reserve (Telangana) in the north (Nallamalla Forest) and Lankamaleswara Sanctuary and Sri Venkateswara National Park, extending southwards up to Tirupati.
NSTR is connected to Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve through forested patches and three protected areas, Sri Lankamalleswaram Wildlife Sanctuary, Sri Venkestwara National Park and Sri Penusila Naiasimha Wildlife Sanctuary. This corridor is important for tiger movements in the landscape and hence must be prioritized for effective conservation (AITE-2018).
NSTR has documented all individual tigers using unique IDs. Pictures of tigers and other species are compiled and presented in the form of an album. This was unveiled by the Chief Minister and other highly placed individuals in the legislature and executives. Copies of the album have been distributed and help in establishing a constituency of supporters for the TR apart from assisting monitoring and management requirements.
The vast collection of museum specimens, ranging from plankton and invertebrates to mammals, in Srisailam Research Lab is the result of commendable work done by the NSTR team. The biodiversity of NSTR has been documented and preserved comprehensively in this lab, which is visited by students from all across India. The bio-lab is being maintained properly and updated by the TR management.
The ecotourism management at NSTR is good, and ecotourism centres have been developed at Bairluty and Thummalabailu. NSTR has a remarkable bio-park at Srisailam. The evolutionary history of the animal kingdom is depicted here, and it is an excellent ecotourism site.
The tiger conservation foundation has adequate corpus funds, which are managed well. The funds are utilised well by the management for the betterment of the TR. However, there is a serious burden on the TCF resources in the event of non-disbursal of central and state funds for identified planned activities as per the TCP, including the wages of protection watchers.
There is no scarcity of water in the tiger reserve. The River Krishna is the perennial water source, and apart from it, a large network of bavis (wells) and kuntas (ponds) is distributed across NSTR. There are numerous streams, small and big, that cover the entire tiger reserve. Most of them join the River Krishna ultimately. All the animals are dependent on the natural water sources and on artificial water sources developed by the department, which are to be maintained. New water resources are being developed.
The core and buffer are under the unified command of the Field Director. Such unified control is a major positive of the management as the reserve is large and spread across five districts of the state. Team work and coordination are now visible, which are needed for effective management of the TR.
The TR has established a wildlife dispensary for in-house management of rescued and stressed animals.
The reserve has a good wireless network across the TR.
The threat of invasive species is minimal.
The solid waste accumulating due to public roads passing through the TR and movements of pilgrims has been effectively managed.

Management Weaknesses:

In NSTR, 16 villages comprising around 3285 people are located in the core area, and they are dependent on the forests for fuel and fodder and for grazing animals. There are 69 villages in the buffer zone. There is a high dependence of the villagers on NSTR for fodder, fuelwood, NTFP and bamboo. However, this is mainly a problem in the buffer zone, as in the core zone the villages are mostly small Chenchu hamlets, called gudems.
Thousands of cattle belonging to the scheduled tribes residing in the core and buffer areas wander in the forests for fodder. This results in a shortage of fodder for wild animals. In all base camps a register for cattle movement is maintained, and regular immunization programmes are planned.
Illegal fishing activities in the backwaters of the multipurpose dams that have been constructed across the River Krishna at Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar, forming large reservoirs within the boundaries of the core of the tiger reserve, are a major concern. Though joint operations by Amrabad Tiger Reserve (Telangana) and NSTR on the common boundary along the River Krishna have effective control, around 1000 families are dependent on the fishing in the River Krishna within NSTR for their livelihood.
Because there are various stakeholder departments in NSTR, notably the hydro-electric department, Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), the migrant fishing community and other resource users, there is every possibility of conflict between the conservation interests and individual interests/incompatible developments.
Famous temples such as Srisaila Mallikarjuna Swamy Temple, Akkamahadevi Temple, Nagaluty Veerabhadra Swamy Temple, Rudrakoteswara Swamy Temple and Ishtakameshwari Temple are located in the core area of NSTR. A large number of pilgrims (2–3 lal‹hs) from Karnataka and Maharashtra visit these temples during Mahasivarathri and Ugadi, disturbing the habitat and wild animals, increasing the vehicle pressure, creating litter, intensifying the man–animal conflict and generating forest fires. Controlling the pilgrimage is a challenge to NSTR.
The Dornala–Srisailam highway passes through the core of NSTR, posing a threat to the wildlife and habitat management.
There are large stretches of Bambusa arundinacea clumps in the central part of the reserve. These stretches are a unique ecosystem of the Nallamalla Hills. Clump improvement works are not being taken up, and as a result a large number of clumps are dying and getting degraded due to congestion. This makes the area vulnerable to fire, and there is a severe threat to the habitat.
The funds under the centrally sponsored Project Tiger are released late to the tiger reserve due to the LOC/PAO system of the state government.

Immediate Actionable Points:

The Tiger Conservation Plan for the period from 2013–14 to 2022–23 for the core area, the buffer area and corridor areas has been approved by the NTCA (vide GOI, F. No.1-19/2009-NTCA, dated 13 October 2014) under Section (3) of Section 38 v of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, and the same is being followed. This is expiring soon and the new TCP has to be prepared and approved by the competent authorities in a timely manner.
During the next TCP preparation, all the stakeholders of the TR have to be involved and consulted during the drafting phase. The process of identification of their willingness to participate, their role and the impact on the TR management and the consultations may be initiated immediately. In the absence of an identified process and protocol, the IUCN framework and workbooks for MEE may be helpful.
Constitution of a state-level steering committee under the chairmanship of the Hon’ble Chief minister is to be done expeditiously.
Since NSTR has communities that are dependent on the forest resources in the core and buffer, there is a need to assess their willingness to be relocated. After the study, the relocation process needs to be taken up on a priority basis to make the core free of human pressure.
The average present beat size (30 km²) is fairly large. Such a large beat size hinders effective management. Efforts should be initiated to rationalise the beat size to 10–20 km².
Many sanctioned posts at different levels are vacant. Efforts are to be expedited to fill in the vacant positions.
Land use land cover classification of the entire reserve has to be carried out to understand the availability of suitable habitats and to infer if there is expansion of bamboos and Phoenix patches in the reserve.
Management of over-matured and dying bamboo patches creating a barrier effect in the habitat as well as encroaching on the grasslands needs to be studied, and suitable interventions are to be implemented to support the herbivore population.
There is a need for upgrading of equipment, especially the mobiles/Android devices that are used for M-STRiPES, which are outdated.
The APC watchers, who are largely from the Chenchu tribes, use their own two-wheeler vehicles for moving within the forests. Two-wheelers may be procured and provided to them along with fuel/oil.
The NSTR–Sri Venkateswara corridor is a potential tiger corridor, and it needs to be secured through financial and technical inputs from the NTCA.
There is a delay or at times non-disbursal of central funds of Project Tiger to the TR. Timely release of the state share as well as central assistance should be the priority for the state. This issue needs to be handled immediately for effective management of NSTR.
Since NSTR is facing heavy pressure from pilgrimage tourism, this needs to be managed properly to prevent any inappropriate activities posing threats to the reserve. Through various awareness activities and capacity building programmes, the pilgrim-tourists can be motivated to practise responsible, sustainable and green tourism. They also provide opportunities for spreading mass awareness about conservation.
The payment of compensation to local communities needs to be institutionalised so that money is released quickly to tackle the human–wildlife conflict issues.
The state government may explore the possibility of scaling up the technical capacity at Srisailam to create a full-fledged "Wildlife Capacity Building Centre", running regular in-house programmes for Andhra Pradesh as well as Telengana.

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Nagarjunasagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve

Introduction

Management Strengths:

Management Weaknesses:

Immediate Actionable Points:

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