The Corbett Tiger Reserve will be one of the six Tiger Reserves in India where the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) will facilitate an economic evaluation.
The schedule and details of this evaluation are expected to be finalised soon.
Talking to The Pioneer, the CTR warden SC Upadhyay said that the economic evaluation being directed by the NTCA would be undertaken in six Tiger Reserves including Corbett. This evaluation would entail reviewing the income generated in the tiger reserve from tourism, allocated funds and other relevant aspects of the tiger reserve.
“The resources being spent on valuable components like the ecology, water conservation and biodiversity conservation will also be evaluated. The Wildlife Institute of India and other bodies will finalise the format for this evaluation, the schedule for which is also to be finalised,” he informed.
It is worth mentioning here that Corbett covers an area of about 1,288 square kilometres and apart from a range of wildlife including tigers and elephants, it also has about 600 species of avifauna making it one of the richest bird regions in the country.
It is estimated that with about two lakh tourists visiting Corbett every year, the combined annual turnover of Corbett tiger reserve and the various large and small business enterprises linked to tourism amounts to about Rs 100 crore. However, the economic evaluation of Corbett will be focused only on the tiger reserve.