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Introduction

Satkosia Tiger Reserve (SKTR), with an area of 1136.70 km², including a buffer of 440.26 km², was notified a tiger reserve in 2007 and is unique as it has species representing the Deccan Peninsula as well as the Eastern Ghats, with a few representative elements of the Western Ghats (for example, Entada phaseoloides). It has a magnificent long and wide gorge (22.5 km) of the Mahanadi River encompassing the aquatic biodiversity of the Eastern Ghats. The area also forms part of Mahanadi Elephant Reserve. Unified control of the core and the buffer and the creation of two divisions (Satkosia Wildlife Division and Mahanadi Wildlife Division) and management of the adjoining Athmallik, Athgarh, Dhenkanal and Angul territorial divisions under the Field Director with contiguous forests will help monitor the possible dispersal of tigers into Satkosia along the corridors and adjoining forest areas and help elephant management in the future. The corridors, including the Similipal–Satkosia Corridor, have been identified and delineated.

The area is dominated by Tropical Moist Deciduous Forest, with more than 400 plant species comprising 126 tree species (including sal and its associates), 98 shrubs, 125 herbs (including orchids) and 51 climbers, 38 species of mammal, more than 200 species of bird, 27 species of reptile, four species of amphibian, 183 species of fish and many invertebrate species. The flagship species among the fauna include the tiger, leopard, wild dog, elephant, gaur, gharial and mugger and four species of endangered turtle (Chitra indica, Lissemys punctata punctata, Kachuga kachuga, Trionyx gangeticus).

The anti-poaching camps have been strengthened with basic amenities with enforcement instruments. There is continuous patrolling in all the nine ranges of the tiger reserve. The protection strategy, involving nine ranges, 105 permanent anti-poaching camps, one sniffer dog, extensive use of the M-STrIPES with the support of 58 VHF base stations, 14 vehicle-mounted base sets, 138 walkie-talkies and 95 mobile cell phones, has improved the protection status.

The village relocation from Raigoda has led to expansive meadows with an increasing herbivore presence. Good meadow development work in other areas is continuing under expert advice.

A total of 92 EDCs have been formed, and different livelihood options are being offered to them. The eco-development committees in the villages located in the core are very supportive because facilities have been provided by mobilising resources from Central Government schemes and involving major government departments. The local communities have been involved in forest protection and eco-development activities to help the reserve in protection and management.

Ecotourism activities are well organized and the engagement of local communities is generating good revenue for them Ex: tourism complex at Badmul (Satkosia Sands Resort) managed by the EDC of Village Muduligadia is also generating employment for the local EDCs.

The funding support from the state schemes and CAMPA is encouraging, and utilization of these funds for strengthening the infrastructure and for rehabilitation of villages from the buffer is noteworthy and encouraging. Local industries need to come forward to fund activities under the CSR component. Uncertain and delayed funding affects the planned deployment of casual labour in anti-poaching camps. The funding from district agencies is meagre.

The challenges faced by the reserve management include the presence of a large number of human habitations in and around the tiger reserve, the practice of subsistence hunting and poaching, setting off fires for mahua flower collection and for increasing the yield of kendu (tendu), the presence of a large number of cattle (including a substantial goat population), which have a severe impact on the habitat, including the spread of alien invasive species like Lantana, Eupatorium and Parthenium, affecting the natural regeneration of the local species, a large number of vacant posts in the frontline cadre, a lack of trained manpower, a lack of in-house research and insufficient associations with local universities. SKTR should deploy a Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF) for providing additional support to the protection efforts.

Frequent transfer of key officials from the reserve during the period of relocation of villages is not desirable as building rapport and trust with the communities takes time. Rapport and trust are essential during the period of relocation and hand-holding support. Since SKTR is endowed with a rich biodiversity, further studies should be commissioned to assess the biological values and list the flora and fauna to ensure that the rich biodiversity is further documented. Expeditious steps should be taken to notify the ESZ.

Only one veterinary assistant surgeon has been posted in SKTR. An adequate number of posts in the para-veterinary staff should be created for the proper functioning of the centre.

Necessary steps should be taken to constitute the Local Advisory Committee.

Management Strengths:

Satkosia Tiger Reserve (SKTR) is one of the unique tiger reserves in the country, representing the biodiversity of both the Deccan Peninsula and Eastern Ghats with a few representative elements of the Western Ghats (for example, Entada phaseoloides). It has a magnificent long and wide gorge (22.5 km) of the Mahanadi River encompassing the aquatic biodiversity of the Eastern Ghats. This is also the southernmost natural home of the gharial. The Mahanadi is an important spawning site for important carps and prawn species.
SKTR has an area of 1136.70 km², including a buffer of 440.26 km². It was notified as a tiger reserve in 2007 with two sanctuaries, Satkosia and Baisipalli. It spreads over four districts in Odisha, namely Angul, Cuttackand Boudh. The area also forms part of Mahanadi Elephant Reserve. Satkosia Gorge has also been designated as Ramsar site. Unified control of the core and the buffer and the creation of two divisions (Satkosia Wildlife Division and Mahanadi Wildlife Division) and the management of adjoining territorial divisions (Athmallik Forest Division, Athgarh Division, Dhenkanal Division and Angul Division) under the Field Director with contiguous forests will help in monitoring the possible dispersal of tigers into Satkosia along the corridors and adjoining forest areas and will help elephant management in the future. The corridors, including the Similipal Satkosia Corridor, have been identified and delineated.
The area is dominated by Tropical Moist Deciduous Forest, and the floral diversity includes more than 400 plant species comprising 126 tree species (including sal and its associates), 98 shrubs, 125 herbs (incl.orchids) and 51 climbers, and the faunal diversity includes 38 species of mammal, more than 200 species of bird, 27 species of reptile, four species of amphibian, 183 species of fish and many invertebrate species. The flagship species among the fauna include the tiger, leopard, wild dog, elephant, gaur, chowsingha, sambar, barking deer, giant squirrel, gharial and mugger and four species of endangered turtle (Chitra indica, Lissemys punctata punctata, Kachuga kachuga, Trionyx gangeticus). The area harbours bird species such as the emerald dove, Malabar pied hornbill, shaheen falcon, Malabar trogon, blue-tailed bee-eater, stork-billed kingfisher and Indian skimmer.
The anti-poaching camps have been strengthened with basic amenities and enforcement instruments. There is continuous patrolling in all the nine ranges of the tiger reserve. This helps the overall protection and management. Due to the efficient patrolling and active protection measures, a large number of wildlife offence cases have been detected by the management of the reserve. The protection system includes nine ranges, 105 permanent anti-poaching camps, one sniffer dog and the use of the M-STrIPES app, extensively aided by 58 VHF base stations, 14 vehicle-mounted base sets, 138 walkie-talkies and 95 mobile cell phones. It has improved the protection status.
The village rehabilitation from Raigoda has led to expansive meadows on the vacated agricultural lands and attracted large herds of ungulates such as the gaur and chital. The good meadow development work in other areas is continuing under expert advice. The relocation of Raigoda village outside the tiger reserve as New Raigoda Village, providing all necessary arrangements by mobilizing resources from the major line departments, is commendable work done by the management.
A total of 92 EDCs have been formed, and different livelihood options are being offered to many of them. The eco-development committees in the villages located in the core are very supportive because facilities have been provided by mobilising resources from Central Government schemes and involving major government departments. The local communities have been involved in forest protection and eco-development activities to help the reserve with protection and management.
Ecotourism activities are well organized, and the engagement of local communities is generating good revenue for them. It has become a new source of livelihood to the forest-dependent communities. For example, the tourism complex at Badmul (Satkosia Sands Resort), managed by the EDC of village Muduligadia, is also generating employment for the local EDCs.
The funding support from the state schemes and CAMPA is encouraging, and utilization of these funds for strengthening the infrastructure and for rehabilitation of villages from the buffer is noteworthy and encouraging. Rehabilitation of the villages Katranga and Asanbahala is underway. This will be extremely beneficial in the long run as it is rendering critical areas adjoining the core inviolate.

Management Weaknesses:

The presence of a large number of human habitations (four villages in the core, 131 villages in the buffer, 234 villages in the surrounding impact zone) in and around the tiger reserve poses a threat to it and is highly detrimental to the effective management of the reserve.
Although the protection measures have been scaled up, due to the large number of human settlements (tribal and non-tribal communities), subsistence hunting and poaching threats continue, posing a challenge to the management of the reserve.
The frequent fires set off for mahua flower collection as well as for increasing the yield of kendu (tendu) and the presence of a large number of cattle (including a substantial goat population) have a severe impact on the habitat and also encourage the spread of alien invasive species like Lantana, Eupatorium and Parthenium, affecting the natural regeneration of the local species.
A lack of adequate staff, a large number of vacancies in the frontline cadre, and a lack of trained manpower are the major issues and challenges faced by the park. 65% of the Forest Guard posts and 33% of the Range Forest Officer posts are vacant.
In-house research activities are lacking. The training inputs are good but inadequate. These need to be increased manifold, more so when the newly recruited frontline staff join the tiger reserve. The association with local universities is insufficient.
The Local Advisory Committee has not been constituted. Local industries are not coming forward to fund activities under the CSR component.
Although the corridor has been identified and delineated, there is no management plan for monitoring and improving protection in the corridor areas.
The proposal for the creation of the Special Tiger Protection Force is still only in the planning phase.
The dependence on hired vehicles is very high. This can affect patrolling in remote areas and in areas with mountainous terrain.
Uncertain and delayed funding affect the planned deployment of casual labour in anti-poaching camps. The funding from the district agencies is meagre.

Immediate Actionable Points:

The TCP of the STR (2016–17 to 2026–27) has been approved by the NTCA. However, subsequently, an additional area of around 359 km² from five adjoining forest divisions (Athamalik, Angul, Dhenkanal, Athagarh and Boudh) has been added to SKTR (vide government notification dated 14 December 2018), for which a separate plan should be prepared and included in the TCP as an annexure.
Considering the successful rehabilitation of Raigoda village from the core area, followed by habitat development works, which has yielded excellent results, consistent efforts should be made to rehabilitate the remaining four villages from the core. Most of the families from Katranga village, which has an extent of 448 ha and is located at the fringe of the core, have been relocated voluntarily. The remaining families are expected to be relocated shortly. Some other villages from the buffer have voluntarily requested rehabilitation. This process needs to be expedited. Frequent transfers of key officials from the reserve during the period of relocation of villages are not desirable as building rapport and trust with the communities takes time. Rapport and trust are needed during the period of relocation. The state government may consider having a separate transfer policy for tiger reserves engaged in relocating villages.
SKTR is endowed with a rich biodiversity, which has been reported on in the various studies conducted in the past. Studies should be commissioned in the future to assess the biological values and list the flora and fauna to ensure that the rich biodiversity of the reserve is further documented. The research monitoring programme needs to be enhanced, and detailed habitat management-related research at the landscape level is required. Engaging local universities would be beneficial in the long run.
The economic values of a few villages of SKTR have been assessed internally. SKTR should collaborate with research/academic institutions for economic valuation of the entire reserve. The outcomes of the assessment should be shared with the local communities and other stakeholders. Such studies in the long run would help in mobilizing resources for the management of the reserve apart from ensuring effective participation of the local communities and other stakeholders.
Inadequacy of staff continues to remain a major management problem. Around 65% of the posts of Forest Guard, 50% of posts of Deputy Ranger and 33% of posts of Range Officer are lying vacant. Necessary steps should also be taken to fill the vacancies and train the newly recruited/posted staff.
SKTR should deploy the Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF) for providing additional support to protection efforts. The recruitment process for the STPF may have a preference for the local tribals.
The eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) of SKTR has not been notified. Expeditious steps should be taken to notify the ESZ.
The website of SKTR should be altered to ensure compliance with the latest edition of Guidelines for Indian Government Websites, prepared by the National Informatics Centre (NIC). The research studies and reports and learning resources of the reserve should be uploaded on the website.
The Training Need Assessment (TNA) of the key stakeholders should be conducted periodically to set learning objectives for future training courses and preparation of the Annual Training Plan. Officers of the reserve should be encouraged to attend long-term specialized training in wildlife management as only the DFO, Satkosia Wildlife Division has attended the Diploma and Certificate courses of the WII, Dehradun.
There is a wide variation among states in compensation policies for depredation by wild animals. An amount of Rs.20 lakhs is paid on account of the death of a human being in Maharashtra as against Rs.4 lakhs in Odisha. It would be appropriate for the state government to periodically review the compensation policy while taking into cognizance changes made in the other states.
The current pandemic has brought wider recognition of the problems posed by the diseases caused by multi-host pathogens (MHPs). Hence, continuous health monitoring and surveillance of wild animals, proper diagnosis and timely veterinary interventions are essential for effective conservation of wild animals and control of zoonoses. An adequate number of trained wildlife health professionals are required for wildlife health management and for disease monitoring and surveillance to prevent spilling over of MHPs to humans and domestic animals. As per the recommendation of the National Wildlife Action Plan (2017–31), the tiger reserves are expected to establish well-equipped wildlife rehabilitation cum disease surveillance centres supervised by trained wildlife veterinarians by 2023. Efforts should be made to establish a centre in SKTR. Only one veterinary assistant surgeon has been posted in SKTR. An adequate number of posts of para-veterinary staff should be created for the proper functioning of the centre.
Family hostel facility should be provided in the first phase for 20 families at Angul and in the second phase at Nayagarh. Additional units may be constructed in the hostels at appropriate locations to accommodate the families of the remaining frontline staff posted in the core of SKTR.
The Forest Guards and Foresters of the reserve are provided rations, whereas the facility is not given to protection assistants and camp labourers who also live in remote areas and face the same difficulties. The state government may consider providing rations to the protection assistants and camp labourers.
SKTR may collaborate with reputed research/academic institutions for developing the capacity for using artificial intelligence for forest fire risk prediction. The capacity to predict fire incidences with high levels of accuracy can substantially improve the resource allocation, mitigation and recovery efforts of forest fire management.
SKTR has not received funds from donors, CSR and NGOs in the last 3 years. It should work on fund raising strategies targeting various sources of funds and make consistent efforts to mobilize financial resources.
Timely availability of funds for the tiger reserve needs to be ensured for better management and the smooth functioning of the reserve.
Necessary steps should be taken to constitute the Local Advisory Committee.

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Satkosia Tiger Reserve

Introduction

Management Strengths:

Management Weaknesses:

Immediate Actionable Points:

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