Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav chairs NTCA and Project Elephant Meetings at Sundarbans

The 28th Meeting of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the 22nd Steering Committee Meeting of Project Elephant were held on 21 December 2025 at the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve, West Bengal, under the chairmanship of the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav.

NTCA (National Tiger Conservation Authority) Meeting Highlights
- Venue: Sundarbans Tiger Reserve, West Bengal (21 December 2025).
- Chair: Union Environment Minister Shri Bhupender Yadav.
- Focus Areas:
- India’s globally recognised tiger conservation model.
- Emphasis on science-based management, landscape-level planning, community participation, and international collaboration.
- Review of human–tiger conflict mitigation through a three-pronged strategy and launch of Management of Tigers Outside Tiger Reserves.
- Approval of Tiger Conservation Plans, Project Cheetah expansion, tiger translocation, prey augmentation, and carnivore health training.
- Preparations for the upcoming Global Big Cat Summit.
- Progress under the sixth cycle of All India Tiger Estimation (ground surveys began November 2025).

Project Elephant Steering Committee Highlights
- Confirmed: Action Taken Report of the 21st Steering Committee Meeting.
- Key Discussions:
- Regional Action Plans for Southern and North-Eastern India.
- Updates on All-India Synchronized Elephant Estimation.
- Progress on Nilgiri Elephant Reserve Conservation Plan and DNA profiling of captive elephants.
- Review of human–elephant conflict drivers and adequacy of compensation mechanisms.
- Evaluation of elephant population estimation methods.
- Future plans: Management Effectiveness Evaluation for all Elephant Reserves, and studies on elephant corridors, habitat use, and conflict hotspots (e.g., Bandhavgarh).

Publications Released
- Project Cheetah in India (progress and international cooperation).
- STRIPES journal (technology, tiger dispersal, AITE updates).
- NTCA booklet on India’s tiger conservation framework.
- Tigerverse (facts and stories from tiger reserves).
- Best Practices in Captive Elephant Management.
- TRUMPET Quarterly Journal (December 2025 issue).

Broader Vision
- Reaffirmed commitment to science-based conservation, community-centric approaches, and inter-state coordination.
- Integration of technological innovation and international cooperation for sustainable wildlife management.

This meeting was a major step in aligning India’s tiger and elephant conservation strategies with global best practices, while also addressing pressing challenges like human–wildlife conflict and habitat degradation.