LANDSCAPE CONSERVATION AND REGIONAL

LANDSCAPE PLANNING

TOPIC
MELGHAT TIGER LANDSCAPE CONSERVATION
VIDARBHA, MAHARASHTRA

SUBMITTED BY
CHANDRAKANT DHAWALE
ENROLL. NO. 1180700001
M.ARCH (LANDSCAPE)
IV SEM
 MELGHAT TIGER LANDSCAPE CONSERVATION

Melghat means 'meeting of the ghats' which is just what the area is, a large tract of unending
hills and ravines scarred by jagged cliffs and steep climbs.

About Melghat

The Melghat forests are situated in Satpuda hills of central India in the Vidarbha region of
Maharashtra. Apart from being host to a rich diversity of wildlife, the region is also home to a
diversity of communities such as Korkus, Gonds, Gawlis, Balai, Halbi, Wanjari, Nihals, Burads
and Rathiya

Melghat Tiger Reserve is located in Satpura Hill Ranges in Amravati District on border with
Madhya Pradesh State. Melghat was declared a tiger reserve in 1974 and is one of the first nine
tiger reserves in India under Project Tiger of the Government of India. It is the largest tiger
reserve in the Maharashtra At present it has an area of 2768 km2, which includes 1550 sq.
km core and 1268 sq. km buffer.
It was declared a Tiger Reserve in 1973/74, and later with the new regulations under the
Wildlife Protection Act (WLPA) 2006 amendment, an inviolate area, or critical tiger habitat
(CTH), was notified in 2007.

Being part of the Satpuda hill ranges Melghat has a very hilly and picturesque terrain. The
forests of Melghat are of the type Central Indian dry teak-bearing forests. At one time Melghat
was managed as for production of timber from teak and for bamboo and timber from Melghat
was considered to be of high quality. With the formation of Melghat Tiger Reserve timber
production is only carried out in smaller quantities in the buffer zone.

Relevant government actors

Maharastra Forest Department

National Tiger Conservation Authority(NTCA)
World Wide Fund (WWF)

Flora

The entire area of the Melghat Tiger Reserve is under the cover of forest. Natural grassy
openings are almost nonexistent. Tectona grandis (teak) is the most dominant species. The
associates of Tectona grandis differ depending upon lattitude, gradient and other physiographic
feature of the habitat. However its most common associates in almost all localities are
Lagerstroemia parviflora, Lannea coromandelica, Emblica officinalis, Terminalia tomentosa,
Anogeissus latifolia, and Ougenia oojeinensis. At lower elevations other associates of teak are
Boswelia serrata, Wrightia tinctoria, Cassia fistula, Miliusa tomentosa, Bauhinia raemosa,
Butea monosperma etc. And in higher elevation and in more moist localities other associates
are mainly Mitragyna parviflora, Adina cardifolia, Schleichera oleosa, Albizzia procera etc.
Pioneering work of identifying and describing varied floristic of the Central Provinces and
Berar was done by Witt (1916) and thereafter by R.I.Patel(1968). The first exhaustive work
was published vide Technical Bulletin No 1, a document named “ Flora of Melghat Tiger

Reserve” authored by Dr. M.A. Dhore and P.A. Joshi (1988) which described 647 naturalized
species belonging to 398 genera of 97 families. further addition in this bio divers list was done
vide Technical bulletin No. VII named as “ Additions to the Flora of Melghat” which was
authored by Dr. Prabha Y. Bhogaonkar and V.D. Devarkar (1999). Their work continued for
one and half year has resulted in addition of 67 species to the earlier reports of Angiosperms.
Further Miss Aparna Watwe , a scientist from the Botanical Survey of India Western Region
Pune did study on the flora of Melghat and added 58 species now the total species are 772, the
details are given below.

Fauna

The tiger is the flagship species of Melghat. The cameras trapping exercise carried out by the
Forest Department and WRCS in 2016 puts the minimum tiger population at 60 tigers. Melghat
harbours a rich assemblage of wildlife found in Central India including other large carnivores
such as the leopard, dhole, sloth bear and hyena, and large herbivores sambar, chital, muntjac,
four horned antelope and nilgai. Other large mammal species found in Melghat include jungle
cat, langur, rhesus macaque, honey badger (ratel), palm civet, small Indian civet, grey
mongoose and Indian porcupine. Melghat is rich in bird species, especially raptors – more than
250 species are found in Melghat. Melghat is considered a stronghold of the critically
endangered forest owlet.

The human component of the Melghat landscape includes a large number of villages. The
community found in Melghat consists of a variety of Central Indian tribes and forest dwelling
communities. The Korkus are the largest tribal community in Melghat. Other communities
include the Gawli community, the Gond tribe and several other smaller tribal communities.

Tiger Conservation Project by WRCS

WRCS is carrying out a project for conservation of the magnificent tiger in the wonderful
terrain of Melghat since 2012. WRCS is implementing the project in the core and the buffer
zone of the tiger reserve. The tiger conservation project in Melghat has a strong component of
community involvement and is based on scientific monitoring of the tiger and other wildlife.
The project is being carried out in close coordination with the Forest Department. The main
components of the project are described below.

Camera trap monitoring of the tiger

Camera trap monitoring of the tiger population was carried out in 2014 and 2015 in the buffer
zone of the tiger reserve. Cameras were deployed in all forested parts of the buffer zone. In
both years nine tigers were recorded in the buffer zone indicating the high potential of the
buffer for tiger conservation. With more protection to wildlife and the habitat, the buffer zone
has the capacity to support more tigers.

WRCS has recently started a joint initiative for concurrent monitoring of tiger presence by
establishing pressure impression pads (PIP) along known trails of the tiger in the buffer zone.

Sustainability

The community’s dependence on the forest for firewood, timber and NTFP exerts strong
degrading pressure on the habitat. WRCS is working for sustainable utilization of the forest
resources so that the habitat is conserved while fulfilling the needs of the community.

“smokeless” firewood stoves” A workshop was conducted for implementation of fuel-

efficient, chulha). An analysis was conducted of various models of smokeless chulhas to
determine which are more fuel-efficient and which are have better acceptability. In the
next year WRCS will implement the smokeless chulhas in several villages in Melghat.

Fire is a major cause for degradation of Melghat’s forests. Fire is either lit deliberately or
happens while clearing the undergrowth for collection of mahua flowers in summer. WRCS is
educating the community to avoid fire by careful control of fire in the mahua season.

Livelihood

Lack of livelihood opportunities is a major issue for forest-dwelling communities. It forces

them to migrate outside for jobs or indulge in illicit activities. WRCS is implementing various
activities to generate livelihood for the community.
Training in bamboo craft is being imparted to youths to provide income from sale of bamboo
articles. WRCS will help to market the articles made by the youths.

The community is being trained to make baskets from PP strapping tapes. This is a very strong
material so the baskets produced are strong and durable. The community members have
responded very enthusiastically to the training and it is helping to provide them livelihood in
the villages. WRCS is helping to market the bags.
Education

WRCS is implementing a two-year environmental education program in ashram shalas

(residential schools) in Melghat in partnership with WWF. Students of standards 6th to 9th will
be educated through this program. Environmentally aware students will help to conserve this
region in the long-term.

Partners and Supporters

The project is being carried out in partnership with the Tiger Reserve authorities in the Core
Zone and the territorial Forest Department in buffer zone. WWF-India has been a partner in
the Melghat project and has provided financial support from the beginning. WWF-India is also
a partner in the environmental education program.

US Fish and Wildlife Service is supporting the project for camera-trap monitoring of the tiger.

WRCS is part of a consortium, with the Forest Department as the main partner, that
is recipient of a grant for tiger conservation in Eastern Maharashtra landscape.

Wildlife Conservation Trust is partnering with WRCS for capacity building workshops in
Wildlife Law and Wildlife Crime prevention.