In the last few decades, the number of tigers in India has doubled to 3,167. Besides, 75 percent of the tigers in the forests of different countries of the world now live in India. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave this information at an event organized on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the country’s tiger conservation project last month. And the increase in tigers has reduced the country’s carbon emissions, a new study has revealed.
New research in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution recently identified a link between tiger conservation and the fight against climate change. Tigers are scattered throughout India’s jungles, mangroves and so-called ‘dry forests’. Their habitats may seem very different, but there is a natural link between tiger growth and vegetation, researchers say.
India’s strict protection laws for tiger conservation have saved huge swathes of forest, new research says. Otherwise these forests would have been cleared and the trees cut down. By protecting the tiger, the forest has been saved. As a result, 1 million tons of carbon emissions have been reduced. 1 million tons of carbon emissions may sound low to many, but it won’t make a huge dent in climate change. Because India alone emits about 2.7 billion tonnes every year. Despite that, tiger conservation shows a glimmer of hope.
Project Tiger started in India in 1973. This project started with only 9 tiger reserve forests. After 50 years now the number of tiger reserves is 53. Strong conservation management has led to an increase in wildlife numbers.
According to the 2022 tiger census, the number of tigers in the country has increased by about 200 since the previous census. However, in the tiger census conducted earlier in 2018, the rate of increase in the number of tigers was slower than that of the last four years. Source: The Convention