Panna Tiger Reserve included in UNESCO's programme

Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR) of  Madhya Pradesh has been included in the list of the International Co-ordinating Council of UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere Programme (MAB-ICC). The reserve has now become a site that will serve as a lab to test innovative approaches to eco-conservation and sustainability.  Biosphere reserves are designated by the state  governments, and sent to UNESCO for global status. Panna was designated a biosphere reserve by India in 2011.

Biosphere Reserves are learning places for sustainable development whose aim is to reconcile biodiversity conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources,They are a central element of UNESCO’s research and awareness-raising work to foster innovative sustainable development practices and combat the loss of biodiversity supporting communities and Member States’ understanding, valuing and safeguard the living environment.Established by UNESCO in 1971.

Panna Tiger Reserve, which once saw its entire tiger population disappear, around 2008-09, has now been declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. It is the 12th biosphere reserve from India and third biosphere in State of madhya Pradesh following Pachmarhi and Amarkantak. “The area has undergone substantial ecosystem restoration in the buffer zone. With only three urban centres and over 300 villages, agriculture is the main source of income together with horticulture, forestry and cultural and eco-tourism,” the UNESCO stated.

Union Minister for environment, forest and climate change Prakash Javdekar, congratulated PTR authorities via a social media post for their outstanding effort of conservating tigers. According to Uttam Kumar,  Chief Conservator of Forest(CCF), PTR, it is a big achievemen. The department will certainly do more effort  to make the PTR more rich.  Alok kumar, PCCF, Madhya Pradesh also said that this is a proud moment for them. Panna Tiger Reserve, located in the outcasts of Vindhya Range is the 22nd tiger reserve of India and 5th in Madhya Pradesh. The Panna Tiger Reserve spans 15,981.sq km, with a 576km Core area. It is mainly recognized for tigers but also have a significant number of crocodiles, cheetal etc. It is spread in the districts of Panna and Chhatarpur in the Bundelkhand region. It was established in the year 1981 as a national park. After 13 years, in 1994,  central government declared it a tiger reserve under Project Tiger.

Panna had around 40 tigers initially but in the first decade of 21 century their population declined drastically. By 2009, every single tiger had been hunted down and in March 2009, R.Srinavasa Murthy, IFS and the then Director, PTR translocated two adult female tigers from Bandhavgarh and Kanha reserves, and started from zero. it involved a two-pronged approach. While the forest department, under Murthy’s supervision, focussed on repopulating the tiger reserve, the non-profit organisation, Last Wilderness Foundation (LWF), was roped in to relocate the Pardhi tribes and make them surrender hunting.And thanks to the efforts of dedicated officials and conservationists, the big cat made a strong comeback. In just 10 years, the tiger count at Panna went up to 52. 

Often, the tigers would venture into human habitats in the vicinity of the forest and kill cattle. The villagers laid traps or poisoned some of the tigers to protect their cows and goats but main reason behind the extinction of tigers in Panna has to be the mindless poaching by outsiders. These poachers were trained to hunt discreetly in the night, evading the forest guards. They brutally hunted down every last tiger in Panna, until no tiger lived in the National Park. The poaching has been started again and at least five big cats have been found dead over the last eight months.

 Twenty-five sites have joined UNESCO’s World Network of Biosphere Reserves while 11 sites withdrawn from the World Network. New list of biosphere reserves also includes sites in Maldives, Mongolia, Indonesia, Nigeria,Trinidad & Tobago, Comoros, Kazakhstan, Peru and Benin. currently 701 biosphere reserves across the world, located in 124 countries.