CENTRE RELEASES MANAGEMENT EFFECTIVENESS EVALUATION (MEE) OF 146 NATIONAL PARK & WILDLIFE SANCTUARIES

CENTRE RELEASES MANAGEMENT EFFECTIVENESS EVALUATION (MEE)  OF 146 NATIONAL PARK & WILDLIFE SANCTUARIES

Context

Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Prakash Javadekar released Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) of 146 National Park and Wildlife Sanctuaries in the country.

Details about Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE)

• It has emerged as a key tool that is increasingly being used by governments and international bodies to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the protected area management systems.
• The assessment process of India’s National Park and Wildlife Sanctuaries adopted from IUCN WCPA (World Commission on Protected Areas) framework of MEE.
• The MoEF&CC has also launched the Management Effectiveness Evaluation of Indian Zoos (MEE-ZOO) framework which proposes guidelines, criteria and indicators for the evaluation of zoos of the country in a manner which is discrete, holistic and independent.
• At present, India has a network of 903 Protected Areas in the country covering about five per cent of the total geographic area of the country. In order to assess the efficacy of Protected Areas, evaluation of management effectiveness is required.

What is a National Park

• An area, whether within a sanctuary or not, can be notified by the state government to be constituted as a National Park, by reason of its ecological, faunal, floral, geomorphological, or zoological association or importance, needed to for the purpose of protecting & propagating or developing wildlife therein or its environment.
• No human activity is permitted inside the national park except for the ones permitted by the Chief Wildlife Warden of the state.

What is Wildlife Sanctuary

• Any area other than area comprised with any reserve forest or the territorial waters can be notified by the State Government to constitute as a sanctuary if such area is of adequate ecological, faunal, floral, geomorphological, natural. or zoological significance, for the purpose of protecting, propagating or developing wildlife or its environment.
• Some restricted human activities are allowed inside the Sanctuary area.