Context: Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) of 146 national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in the country is released.

• India has a network of 903 Protected Areas covering about 5 per cent of its total geographic area of the country.
• According to the survey, Tirthan Wildlife Sanctuary and Great Himalayan National Park in Himachal Pradesh have performed the best among the surveyed protected areas.
• From this year onwards, 10 best nationalparks, five coastal and marine parks and top five zoos in the country will be ranked and awarded every year.
• The Turtle Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh was the worst performer in the survey.
• 70% of the global tiger population, 70% of Asiatic lions and more than 60% of leopard population in India is a certificate of India’s thriving biodiversity as these big cats sit at the top of food chain and their growing numbers shows the well-being of the whole ecosystem.

Management Effectiveness Evaluation of Protected Areas

• It has emerged as a key tool that is increasingly being used by governments and international bodies to understand strengths and weaknesses of the protected area management systems.
• India has systematically designated its Protected Areas in four legal categories — National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Conservation Reserves and Community Reserves under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
• Under this Act, India has 903 formally designated Protected Areas with a total coverage 1,65,012.6 square km.
• Among these are 101 National Parks, 553 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 86 Conservation Reserves and 163 Community Reserves.
• For the survey, 146 National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries across 29 states and Union territories were evaluated.

Tirthan Wildlife Sanctuary

• Located in the Kullu district, Tirthan wildlife sanctuary is one of the most magnificent sanctuaries in Himachal Pradesh.
• It lies is Seraj forest division near Kullu town.
• The wildlife sanctuary was notified in revenue records of the state on 17 June 1976.
• It is spread around an area approximately 61 sq km.
• The sanctuary is very famous among the pilgrims all over the country for the hot springs originating in the mountain ridges surrounding the sanctuary.
• Khirganga, Hans Kund and Mantalai Rakti Sar are the names of hot springs present in the region.
• The Great Himalayan National Park adjoins the Tirthan wildlife sanctuary on the southern side.
• It has one of the largest remaining populations of Himalayan Tahr.
• The wide variety of fauna present includes Jungle Cat, Brown Bear, Himalayan Brown Bear, Barking Deer, Snow Leopard, Himalayan Rhesus, Weasel etc.
• Flora includes moist Deodar, Ban Oak, Alpine, mixed Conifer tress etc.

Great Himalayan National Park

• This National Park is located in the state of Himachal Pradesh.
• It is listed under the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list.
• It is at the junction of world's two major bio-geographic realms: the Indo-malayan realm to the south and the Palearctic realm to the north.

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/survey-tirthan-sanctuary-great-himalayan-national-park-best-performers-among-protected-areas-7142634/

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