Tiger reserves avaided: 1 million tonnes of carbon emission
Moreover, the country has saved $6.24 million from avoided social costs of carbon emissions.
Representative image
CHENNAI: Recently, the country celebrated 50 years of Project Tiger and boasted of an increased population of the big cats. Though it aims to preserve the national animal from extinction only, the project, which was launched in 1973, has avoided over 1 million tonnes of carbon emission between 2007 and 2020.
Moreover, the country has saved $6.24 million from avoided social costs of carbon emissions.
According to a study published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, the budget for Project Tiger in 2020-2021 was just under $27 million. More than a quarter of this budget was paid back in over $7 million per year between 2007 and 2020 from the avoided social cost of emissions. The study was conducted in 15 tiger reserves.
“Although these annual returns are a fraction of the annual management costs of these reserves, they demonstrate that resources invested in biodiversity conservation can be reimbursed in the form of economic benefits from ecosystem services,” the study pointed out.
Aimed at establishing the link between biodiversity conservation programmes and climate change mitigation programmes, the study has noted that Project Tiger has averted forest loss of over 5,802 hectares, even though some of the Tiger Reserves, including
Anamalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu, witnessed a loss certain amount of forest. The loss of forest has been avoided due to stricter enforcement to preserve deforestation.
In some of the Tiger Reserves identified by the study, the rate of forest was higher than expected and half of these reserves are in Northeast India. Anamalai Tiger Reserve also has seen a high rate of deforestation due to extensive monoculture plantations within the region. Age of the protected areas has negatively correlated with the forest loss. However, the tiger population is steadily increasing in such reserves.
The study pointed out the urgent need for additional financial resources to close the funding gap for species conservation and stated that there are clear synergies between such biodiversity conservation policies and carbon markets. The study also highlighted the loss of forest in 162 protected areas from 2001 to 2020.
The study report pointed out If the enhanced protection measures enacted in the untreated protected areas with tiger presence, an additional $38 million would have been gained from avoided emissions. It suggests that integrating species conservation programmes into global carbon markets can help unlock additional opportunities for funding the protection and restoration of natural habitats.
A recently conducted tiger census has estimated 3,167 tigers in the country, which is higher than tiger population recorded during earlier censuses. There were 2,967 tigers recorded in 2018, and 2,226 tigers in 2014. In 2006, there were only 1,411 tigers in India.
During the initial stages of the project, 9 tiger reserves were announced. Now, there are 53 tiger reserves. Total area of tiger reserves has increased to 75,796 sq km from 18,278 sq km.
The study report pointed out If the enhanced protection measures enacted in the untreated protected areas with tiger presence, an additional $38 million would have been gained from avoided emissions
