Context: Recently, the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change has released the Report on Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE).

Key highlights of Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) Report

Important Findings

• The report stated that at present, India has a network of 903 Protected Areas in the country covering about 5% of the total geographic area of the country.
• It highlighted that India is home to 70% of the global tiger population, 70% of Asiatic lions and more than 60% of leopard population.
• The results of present assessment are encouraging with overall mean MEE score of 62.01% which is higher than the global mean of 56%.
• The present MEE exercise included 146 National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries in five regions viz Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western and North-eastern, covering 29 states and Union Territories of India.
• It highlighted that rating-wise, 13% PAs are in 'very good' category, 52% PAs are in 'good' category, 29% PAs in 'fair' category and only 6% PAs have been rated in 'poor' category.
• Tirthan Wildlife Sanctuary and Great Himalayan National Park, Himachal Pradesh rated with the highest MEE score of 84.17% and Turtle Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttar Pradesh rated with least MEE score of 26.66%.
• The top 5 protected areas under MEE are Tirthan WLS (HP), Great Himalayan National Park (HP), Sainj WLS (HP), Raiganj WLS (West Bengal) and Jaldapara National Park (West Bengal).
• The bottom 5 protected areas under MEE are Turtle WLS (UP), Khaparwas WLS (Haryana), Ramsagar WLS (Rajasthan), Pani-Dihing Bird WLS (Assam) and Jai Prakash Narayan (Surhatal) Bird WLS (UP).

Key Announcements

• It provided that from 2020, 10 best National Parks, 5 coastal and Marine parks and top five Zoos in the country will be ranked and awarded every year.
• The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) successfully completed one full cycle of evaluating all terrestrial National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries of the country from 2006 to 2019.
• The new framework for MEE of Marine Protected Areas has been also jointly prepared by WII and MoEF&CC and it will be very useful document to implement.
• It also launched the Management Effectiveness Evaluation of Indian Zoos (MEE-ZOO) framework which proposes guidelines, criteria and indicators for evaluation of zoos of the country.
• The MEE-ZOO exercise is moving towards developing highest standards in Zoos across India and adhering to core values of accountability, transparency, innovation, use of technology, collaboration and integrity to achieve the mandate of conservation of endangered species.

About Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE)

• The Protected area (PA) management effectiveness evaluation (MEE) is defined as the assessment of how well National Parks & Wildlife Sanctuaries are being managed i.e. whether they are protecting their values and achieving the goals and objectives agreed upon.
• It is a very important document which provides valuable guidance on various aspects of wildlife and protected area expand MEE of Marine Protected Areas.

The term ‘management effectiveness’ reflects three main themes of PA management

• Design issues relating to both individual sites and PA systems;
• The adequacy and appropriateness of management systems and processes; and
• Delivery of the objectives of NP&WLS, including conservation of values

Need for Evaluation of Protected Areas

• The assessment of management effectiveness has emerged as a key tool for PA managers and is increasingly being required by governments and international bodies.
• The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Programme of Work for Protected Areas calls on all State Parties to continue to expand and institutionalize management effectiveness assessments to work towards assessing 60% of the total area of NP&WLS using various national and regional tools.
• In both developed and developing countries it has been seen that declaration of NP&WLS does not always result in adequate protection.
• The assessment of management effectiveness should include both issues within and/or beyond the control of individual managers.
• The information used by managers to improve their own performance (adaptive management) can also be drawn on for reporting (accountability) or can be used to improve the way funds and other resources are allocated either within a single reserve or across a PA system (resource allocation).

Categories of Protected Areas

Sanctuary: It is an area which is of adequate ecological, faunal, floral, geomorphological, natural or zoological significance. The Sanctuary is declared for the purpose of protecting, propagating or developing wildlife or its environment. Certain rights of people living inside the Sanctuary could be permitted.

National Park: It is declared for the purpose of protecting, propagating or developing wildlife or its environment, like that of a Sanctuary. The difference between a Sanctuary and a National Park mainly lies in the vesting of rights of people living inside.

• Unlike a Sanctuary, where certain rights can be allowed, in a National Park, no rights are allowed.
• No grazing of any livestock shall also be permitted inside a National Park while in a Sanctuary, the Chief Wildlife Warden may regulate, control or prohibit it.

Conservation Reserves: These can be declared by the State Governments in any area owned by the Government, particularly the areas adjacent to National Parks and Sanctuaries and those areas which link one Protected Area with another. Such declarations should be made after having consultations with the local communities.

• These are declared for the purpose of protecting landscapes, seascapes, flora and fauna and their habitat. The rights of people living inside a Conservation Reserve are not affected.

Community Reserves: These can be declared by the State Government in any private or community land, not comprised within a National Park, Sanctuary or a Conservation Reserve, where an individual or a community has volunteered to conserve wildlife and its habitat. As in the case of a Conservation Reserve, the rights of people living inside a Community Reserve are not affected.