Research Journal of Recent Sciences _________________________________________________ ISSN 2277-2502 Vol. 1 (ISC-2011), 265-269 (2012) Res.J.Recent Sci. Integrated Biodiversity Management A case study of Melghat Tiger reserve as a protected area, India Kazi N.M. PG and Research Dept. of Geography, SPDM College Shirpur, Dhule, MS, INDIA Available online at: www.isca.in (Received 30th October 2011, revised 5th January 2012, accepted 28th January 2012) Abstract Recognizing the need to protect tiger, government initiated several measures aimed at conservation and protection of the species. Significant among them were project tiger, a centrally sponsored scheme launched in April 1973 and the India eco-development project (October 1997- June 2004) funded by external agencies. Besides, efforts were made to prevent illegal wildlife trade to ensure a viable population of tiger in India. The main activities of project tiger include wildlife management, protection measure, and specific eco-development activities. Twenty eight tiger reserve were created in 17 states between 1973-74 and 1999-2000. the project tiger directorate (PTD) in the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) at New Delhi is responsible for providing technical guidance, budgetary support, coordination, monitoring, and evolution of project tiger while the management and implementation of the project rests with the state government concerned. The India eco-development project (IEDP) was a pilot project initiated with the assistance of the World Bank and the global environment facility to conserve biodiversity through ecodevelopment. The project addressed both the impact of the local population on the protected areas and the impact of the protected areas on the local population and envisaged to improve the capacity of the protected area management to effectively conserve biodiversity and support collaboration between the states and the local communities in and around ecologically vulnerable areas. Melghat tiger reserve, as a protected area in the state of Maharashtra with the potential to hold viable population of the tiger. It is located in the central high land biotic province of the deccan bio-geographic zone, a largest and oldest tiger reserve in the state supports typical dry teak forest of the central India. All protected areas in the country are subject to anthropogenic pressures of various types. The present paper is based on the groundwork of melghat tiger project reserve and secondary data collection with objectives, need for monitoring tiger and its prey population for assessing the impacts of management interventions of protected areas as an effective tool for biodiversity conservation. Keywords: Conservation, bio-geographic, management, anthropogenic. References 1. Setting Priority for Conservation and Recovery of Wild Tigers, Technical Assessment, WCS, WWF Smithsonian and NFWF-STF. New York, Washington D.C. (2005-2015) 2. Karanth K.U. and Kumar N.S., Distribution and Dynamics of Tiger and Prey Population in Maharashtra, India Fin. Tech. Rep. Centre for Wildlife Studies, Bangalore, India (2005) 3. Karanth K.U. and Mel Sunquist, Prey Selection by Tiger, Leopard and Dhole in Tropical Forests, J. Animal Ecology, 64 (4) (1995) 4. Mehta P., A Study on the Impact of Forestry practices on Bird Communities of Satpura Hills, Ph.D. Thesis, Saurashtra University (2000) 5. Rodgers W.A. and H.S. Panwar., Planning a Wildlife Protected Area Network in India, Wild life Institute of India,, Deheradun (1988) 6. Floyed T.J. and david L. Mechand Peter Jordan. Relating Wolf Scat Content to Prey Consumed, J. Wildlife Management 42 (3), (1978) 7. Ackerman B., Frederick Lindzey and Thomas Hemker, Cougar Food Habits in Southern Utah, J. Wild. Management 48 (1), (1974) 8. Melghat Tiger Project, field visit and ground work- (2004-2005, 2006-2007 and 2007-2008) 9. Where can tigers live in future, Framework for identifying high priority areas for conservation of tigers in the wild. In Riding the Tiger, Tiger Conservation in human dominated landscapes Seidensticker, J., Christie, S., and Jackson, P. (Ed). Cambridge University Press 10. Wikramanayake E.D., Dinerstein E. and Robinson J.G., Karanth K.U., Rabinowitz A., Olson D., Matthew T., Hedao P., Conner M., Hemley G., and Bolze, D (1999) 11. Dinerstein E., Loucks C., Heydlauff A., Wikramnayke E., Brian G., Foreest J., Ginsberg J., Klengendon S., Leingruber P., T. O‟Brien, S. Seindsticker, M. Songer (2006)