The NDA government has almost doubled the budget dedicated for tiger conservation and added 4,000 km of area for new tiger reserves in the country, the Environment Ministry said Monday.
Environment and Forests Minister Harsh Vardhan made the remarks Monday while releasing a report on tiger conservation at a conference organised by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
The report - India Tiger Action Plan - released by the minister, who is also the chairman of the NTCA, also revealed that India has the maximum number of tigers amongst the 13 tiger range countries in the world, putting the big cat on the path to recovery.
"As a minister for MoEFCC for two years, I could see from close quarters and appreciate the level of commitment towards its conservation," he said.
Highlighting the dedication of the NDA government towards tiger conservation, the minister said, "It gives me immense satisfaction that India is leading the world in tiger conservation.
"I distinctly remember that after this government started functioning it almost doubled the budget dedicated to tiger conservation and added 4,000 km of area to new tiger reserves," he said.
The conference was held here to discuss the status of the Global Tiger Recovery Program (GTRP), initiated by 13 tiger range countries - India, Russia, China, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Thailand, Lao PDR, Nepal, Myanmar, Bhutan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam - in 2010 in St Petersburg, Russia with an aim to double the number of tigers by 2022.
The minister praised the efforts of the stakeholders - NTCA, WWF(World Wildlife Fund), GTF (Global Tiger Forum) and others working on tiger conservation and said, "I may have released many books but releasing this one gives me immense pleasure as people are putting in so much hardwork for tigers, who don't even know what is being done for them."
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