• With the Uttarakhand forest department focusing on tiger conservation, the State is soon to get two new tiger reserves, work towards which is under way.
• The Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary, which falls under the Terai Arc Landscape spanning across India and Nepal, and the Surai Range in the Terai East division of the Uttarakhand forest department are the two proposed tiger reserves.
• Uttarakhand now has two tiger reserves – the Corbett Tiger Reserve and the Rajaji Tiger Reserve.
• According to the tiger census data released in 2015, Uttarakhand has 340 tigers making it a State with the second highest tiger population in the country after Karnataka.
• “With the two new tiger reserves, Uttarakhand, would become the first State in North India to get four tiger reserves.
• Corbett tiger reserve is also the oldest national park in India and it was the first to come under the Project Tiger initiative.
• To get the tiger reserve status to a national park, the state government has to send a proposal to National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). After NTCA has given its final approval, the State Govt can notify the tiger reserve based on NTCA recommendation.
• The National Tiger Conservation Authority is a statutory body created under Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, for strengthening tiger conservation.

Source: The Hindu