Why in news?
- “The Supreme Court has directed that any proposal to redraw the boundaries of the Critical Tiger Habitat in the Sariska Tiger Reserve must undergo public consultation before a final decision is made.”
Sariska Tiger Reserve
- Location: Aravalli hills , Rajasthan
- Facts: It is the first reserve in the world which successfully relocated tigers.
- Vegetation: Grasslands, dry deciduous forests
- Fauna: Leopard, sambhar, chital, nilgai, four-horned antelope, wild boar, rhesus macaque, langur, hyena and jungle cats.
Critical Tiger Habitat (CTH)
- Critical Tiger Habitat (CTH), also known as core areas of tiger reserves, are identified under the Wild Life Protection Act (WLPA), 1972.
- These are based on scientific evidence that “such areas are required to be kept as inviolate for the purpose of tiger conservation, without affecting the rights of the Scheduled Tribes or such other forest dwellers”.
- The notification of CTH is done by the state government in consultation with the expert committee constituted for the purpose.
- Inviolate Status: These areas are kept inviolate (free from human activities) for the purpose of tiger conservation.
- The forests peripheral to CTH are notified as buffer areas, which act as a transition between CTH and non-tiger reserves.
