The National Tiger Conservation Authority is the statutory body that gives Project Tiger its legal authority

Background

The National Tiger Conservation Authority has been constituted under section 38L(1) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. It is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, created through the enabling provisions added when the Act was amended in 2006. Under section 38L the Authority consists of the Minister in charge of the Ministry of Environment and Forests as Chairperson, the Minister of State in that Ministry as Vice-Chairperson, three members of Parliament of whom two are elected by the House of the People and one by the Council of States, eight experts or professionals in wildlife conservation and the welfare of people living in tiger reserves of whom at least two must be from the field of tribal development, the Secretary and the Director General of Forests of the Ministry, the Director of Wild Life Preservation, six Chief Wild Life Wardens from tiger reserve States in rotation for three years, officials of the Ministries of Law and Justice, Tribal Affairs, Social Justice and Empowerment and Panchayati Raj, the Chairpersons of the National Commissions for the Scheduled Tribes and the Scheduled Castes, and an Inspector-General of Forests rank officer as Member-Secretary. The Authority draws its powers from section 38O(1) of the Act. These include approving the tiger conservation plan prepared by a State Government, disallowing ecologically unsustainable land use such as mining and industry inside tiger reserves, and laying down normative standards for tourism in core and buffer areas. Under section 38O(2) the Authority may issue directions in writing to any person, officer or authority for the protection of tigers or tiger reserves, and the direction is binding. Project Tiger itself is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Ministry that funds tiger range States for in-situ conservation in designated tiger reserves. The Authority also conducts the country-level assessment of the status of tigers, co-predators, prey and habitat once in four years.