In News:

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), the apex statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), has recently issued a clarification restricting the definition of tiger corridors to only the 32 “least cost pathways” identified in 2014 and those recorded in Tiger Conservation Plans (TCPs) of individual reserves. This excludes later studies by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) (2016, 2021) and data from the All-India Tiger Estimation (AITE) exercises.

What are Tiger Corridors?

Tiger corridors are natural pathways that connect fragmented tiger habitats, allowing for:

• Genetic flow and long-term survival of populations.
• Migration and dispersal between reserves.
• Minimisation of human-wildlife conflict through guided movement.

Projects that require land in or around these corridors or reserves need statutory clearance from the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (SC-NBWL) under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

About NTCA

• Established: 2005 (through 2006 amendment of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972).
• Chairperson: Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• Functions:
  • Approves TCPs of states.
  • Provides financial and technical support for tiger conservation.
  • Oversees Project Tiger implementation.
  • Conducts All-India Tiger Estimation (AITE) every 4 years.
  • Ensures ecological connectivity through corridor protection.

The Recent Controversy

• NTCA had earlier told the Bombay High Court (July 2025) that multiple benchmarks would be used to identify corridors, including:
  • Protected areas with tiger occupancy.
  • 2014 least-cost pathways.
  • WII studies (2016, 2021).
  • AITE distribution data.
• However, in its latest clarification, NTCA restricted corridors only to 2014 least-cost pathways and TCP records, ignoring updated scientific models.

Potential Beneficiaries

Industrial projects, particularly in Maharashtra, such as:

• Western Coalfields Limited’s Durgapur open cast mines.
• Lloyds Metals & Energy’s Surajgarh iron ore mines in Gadchiroli.

Scientific Concerns

• 2014 NTCA Report itself noted that its corridors were “minimal requirement” and alternative connectivities also needed conservation.
• Newer studies (e.g., Circuitscape modelling, 2025) suggest at least 192 corridors across 10 central Indian states, far beyond the restricted 32.
• Narrowing protection risks fragmentation of habitats, reducing gene flow and increasing chances of local extinctions.