Project Tiger
Project Tiger is India’s flagship tiger-conservation programme, launched by the Government of India in April 1973 to protect the country’s tiger populations and their habitats. It began with nine tiger reserves and has since developed into one of the world’s major large-scale wildlife conservation programmes. (National Tiger Conservation Authority)
The programme is implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, providing financial and technical support to designated tiger reserves. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) provides statutory oversight and coordinates tiger conservation across India’s tiger-range states. (National Tiger Conservation Authority)
Key Objectives
Project Tiger focuses on:
- Maintaining viable tiger populations in the wild
- Protecting tiger habitats and prey populations
- Strengthening protection against poaching and other threats
- Supporting scientific monitoring and research
- Improving habitat and water management
- Addressing human–wildlife conflict
- Supporting voluntary village relocation where appropriate
- Promoting conservation across wider wildlife landscapes
Core and Buffer Areas
Tiger reserves are managed using a core–buffer approach. The core area provides a higher level of protection and has the legal status of a National Park or Wildlife Sanctuary, while buffer areas can include a mixture of forest and non-forest land managed for conservation alongside compatible human use. (National Tiger Conservation Authority)
This approach recognises that conserving tigers requires more than protecting individual animals. Tigers need sufficiently large habitats, healthy prey populations, connectivity between landscapes and effective management of the surrounding areas.
Beyond the Tiger
The tiger functions as an umbrella species. Protecting viable tiger populations and their habitats can also help conserve prey species, forests, water sources and many other species sharing the same ecosystems.
Project Tiger has therefore evolved from a species-focused programme into a broader landscape-level conservation effort involving habitat protection, scientific monitoring, community considerations and wildlife management.
Project Tiger Today
Project Tiger has expanded enormously since its launch in 1973. The NTCA’s current information describes 53 tiger reserves across 18 tiger-range states, covering approximately 75,797 sq km. (National Tiger Conservation Authority)
The programme remains an important pillar of India’s strategy for conserving the country’s national animal and some of its most important forest and grassland ecosystems.
Explore India’s tiger reserves and discover the landscapes protected through Project Tiger.