PERIYAR TIGER RESERVE (PTR) WON UN-INDIA BIODIVERSITY AWARD

PERIYAR TIGER RESERVE (PTR) WON UN-INDIA BIODIVERSITY AWARD

The Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) has won the coveted U.N.-India Biodiversity Governance award instituted by the Government of India and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for the best managed protected area of the country.The award was announced at the venue of the Conference of Parties to Convention on Biological Diversity in Hyderabad on Wednesday. Sanjayankumar, deputy director of the reserve, and Hydros Meeran, chairman of the Periyar East Eco Development Committees’ Confederation, received the award. The award carries a purse of Rs.50,000 and a citation.The PTR and the Kanha Tiger Reserve of Madhya Pradesh were the finalists for the prize instituted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the UNDP.

According to Mr. Sanjayankumar, the holistic approach adopted towards conservation, protection and management of the park earned the reserve laurels. Equal attention was being given to research, wildlife protection, pilgrim management, and participatory forest management practices at the reserve, he said.Experts had thoroughly assessed the management mechanism, people’s participation in conservation, and protection measures and sustainable eco-tourism practice of the PTR. The expert committee had visited the park and interacted with various stakeholders as part of the evaluation process, he said.The recognition was conferred on the reserve in the presence of delegates from more than 100 countries attending the conference. The award is expected to bring international recognition and attention to the reserve, said an elated Mr. Sanjayankumar.

The PTR, first tiger reserve in the State, is home to 35 tigers. The reserve, which is spread over an area of 925 sq km, is also one of the best known eco-tourism centres of the country which is visited by around seven lakh people annually. The park supports a wide range of wildlife, including tigers and elephants. It is also one of the elephant reserves of the country.The reserve had earlier bagged recognition as one of the best tiger reserves of the State. The National Tiger Conservation Authority had bestowed the best tourism regulated park award on the PTR last year.

Prof. John Kurakar