India’s 56th Tiger Reserve Declared: Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla in Chhattisgarh

New Delhi: Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, has announced the notification of the Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve in Chhattisgarh as India’s 56th tiger reserve. Spanning an area of 2,829.38 sq. km, this tiger reserve is now the third-largest in the country, following Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh and Manas in Assam.

The reserve, located across the districts of Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur, Korea, Surajpur, and Balrampur, comprises a core area of 2,049.2 sq. km—encompassing the Guru Ghasidas National Park and Tamor Pingla Wildlife Sanctuary—and a buffer zone of 780.15 sq. km.

Bhupender Yadav shared the development via a post on social media platform ‘X,’ stating, “As India continues to touch new milestones in tiger conservation, we have notified Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla in Chhattisgarh as the 56th tiger reserve.”

The newly declared tiger reserve is part of a critical landscape, connecting the Sanjay Dubri Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve to the west, and the Palamau Tiger Reserve in Jharkhand to the east. This forms a contiguous conservation corridor across states, vital for maintaining genetic diversity and facilitating the movement of tigers and other wildlife.

Nestled within the Chota Nagpur and Baghelkhand plateaus, the reserve boasts varied terrains, dense forests, streams, and rivers, making it a haven for biodiversity. The Zoological Survey of India has documented 753 species within the reserve, including 365 invertebrates and 388 vertebrates. Among these are 230 bird species and 55 mammal species, many of which are threatened.

With this notification, Chhattisgarh now houses four tiger reserves, bolstering its role in India’s tiger conservation efforts. This comes under the aegis of Project Tiger, with technical and financial support from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

The Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve underscores India’s commitment to a landscape approach to conservation, aligning with the goals of the National Wildlife Plan. As the third-largest tiger reserve, it promises to play a key role in safeguarding tigers and their habitats while enhancing the ecological integrity of the region.