Tiger Reserves in India awarded CA|TS accreditation

In March 2023, six Tiger Reserves across India were given CA|TS Approved status: Periyar (in the state of Kerala), Pilibhit (Uttar Pradesh), Nawegaon-Nagzira (Maharashtra), Tadoba-Andhari (Maharashtra), Melghat (Maharashtra), and Kali, also known as Dandeli-Anshi (Karnataka). 

WWF-India, along with its partner, Global Tiger Forum, facilitated the CA|TS assessments of the Tiger Reserves providing financial, technical and logistical support. This increase in adoption of CA|TS is significant and will have a positive impact on tigers and wildlife in these areas within India because of the improved management. The CA|TS Approved certificates were formally handed over to the Tiger Reserves by the Honourable Minister of State for Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Government of India during the Global Tiger Day Celebrations in Ramnagar, Corbett Tiger Reserve on 29th July 2023.

CA|TS 10 year review

The year 2023 marked 10 years since CA|TS was formally launched at the Asia Parks Congress in Japan. An independent review of CA|TS was commissioned to assess how effective CA|TS was in achieving conservation goals at sites, and the barriers to further expansion. Findings included  that a tool such as CA|TS was essential for effective tiger conservation and that it addresses the right areas needed for better site management. However, the system in its current form is not well established enough to maximise improvement of management effectiveness of sites. 

The independent review concluded that a redesign of CA|TS will be essential for the tool to support and improve site-based management across tiger ranges in the future. The report will be discussed with stakeholders who will co-develop a roadmap for the future of CA|TS in 2024.

WWF’s Heartlands Initiative comes to a close

Launched in 2018, the aim of the Heartlands Initiative was to focus WWF’s investment and technical support to improve the management of 50 Heartlands which were identified as the most important sites for tiger recovery across 12 tiger range countries. An internal report analysed the impact of the Initiative and concluded that there was a demonstrable increase in the area of Heartlands which are effectively managed for tigers and prey. 68% of these Heartlands sites, covering more than 500,000 hectares across seven tiger landscapes in seven countries, met the definition of Good Management. Notably this included 29 of the 34 sites (85%) which were surveyed again at the end of the Initiative.

Keeping Myanmar connected

In an effort to expand conservation efforts, WWF-Myanmar’s wildlife team has conducted an assessment in the Northern Forest Complex (part of the transboundary Far Eastern Himalaya landscape), particularly in Nagaland, with the ambition of protecting and restoring remaining tiger corridors while mobilising Indigenous Peoples, local communities and other partners to promote sustainable community-led conservation. This region was selected because it stands out as a crucial transboundary tiger corridor, linking habitats between Myanmar and India, as well as being a major conduit for illegal wildlife trade between India and China.

New model published for estimating prey densities

In July 2023, a peer-reviewed paper was published by WWF-US and Tigers Alive that outlined a new model for estimating densities of unmarked tiger prey species. It explains how the newly developed Space-to-Event model, which was initially developed for time-lapse photography and adapted for motion-triggered camera traps, can estimate the abundance of unmarked animals which includes nearly all tiger prey species. This is important to both understand how many tigers a landscape can support but also monitor the impact of conservation interventions on tiger prey. The model can be applied in almost all WWF landscapes for monitoring prey and is currently being trialled in PT-Alam Bukit Tigapuluh Concession in Indonesia. WWF-Indonesia and partners are working through this concession company to restore parts of the concession that have been deforested, setting aside some parts for income generation to benefit local and Indigenous communities and support the forestry operations, all while protecting the majority of forest to benefit both nature and people.

Collaboration on corridors in the Central India Landscape

During June 2023, WWF-India, the Coalition for Wildlife Corridors, and Madhya Pradesh Forest Department organised a two-day workshop to collaborate on corridor conservation planning in the Central India Tiger Landscape. The workshop brought together over 70 representatives from different groups including forest department officials, district administration and tribal welfare department officials and conservationists to discuss corridor conservation including their current status, threats, and management. Key outcomes of the workshop include:

1. Formation of a focal working group for the Satpura-Melghat and Satpura-Pench corridors, to strengthen corridor conservation planning and implementation. The working group will support and foster consistent engagement with a wider pool of stakeholders within the corridor.
2. Delineating working corridor boundaries: The workshop participants agreed that delineating precise corridor boundaries is a challenge. However, it is required for conservation planning and management. The Madhya Pradesh state forest department has requested the Coalition for Wildlife Corridors to delineate corridors across the whole state so that corridor conservation planning can be systematically incorporated into the state system for further conservation actions.