EnvironmentPrelimsGS3

Nameri Tiger Reserve in Assam gets CA|TS Approved status

By CAShorts DeskPublished 10 October 2026, 5:07 pm ISTSource: PTI via DD India; CA|TS pages of the International Big Cat Alliance; Wildlife Institute of India (MEE of Tiger Reserves); National Tiger Conservation Authority

Nameri Tiger Reserve in Assam's Sonitpur district has received CA|TS Approved status under the Conservation Assured | Tiger Standards framework. The status was accorded on September 10, 2026 after assessment and approval by the CA|TS International Executive Committee, the reserve's field director said on October 8. All four tiger reserves of Assam, Kaziranga, Manas, Orang and Nameri, now hold it.

Syllabus: Prelims · Current Affairs & IR; Prelims · Environment & Ecology; GS3 · Environment & Conservation

Why it matters

For the forest guards of Nameri and the villages on its edge, the tag means an outside panel has checked how the reserve is patrolled, how its habitat is kept, how its tigers are monitored and how local people are involved, and found all of it up to an international standard. A notification alone has never kept tigers safe: they have vanished from parks once thought secure. A common yardstick shows a manager where the gaps are and gives governments and donors a reason to fund them, though CA|TS itself gives no money. Approval is not a one-time prize either: a simple assessment follows every three years. The larger question is how well protected areas are managed, not only how many are declared.

Prelims pointers

CA|TS: a voluntary, independent accreditation scheme for tiger conservation areas; sites are recorded as Registered or Approved. It is neither a ranking nor a funding agency.
National Tiger Conservation Authority: statutory body under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (2006 amendment); chaired by the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
Tiger reserve: notified by the State Government on the recommendation of the National Tiger Conservation Authority; has a core (critical tiger habitat) and a buffer.
Project Tiger: centrally sponsored scheme launched in April 1973; the core has the legal status of a national park or sanctuary, the buffer is a multiple-use area.
Nameri: north bank of the Brahmaputra at the Eastern Himalayan foothills; shares its northern boundary with Pakke Tiger Reserve, Arunachal Pradesh.
Rivers of Nameri: Jia-Bhoreli (the Kameng of Arunachal Pradesh, a Brahmaputra tributary) and Bor-Dikorai.
Nameri is part of Sonitpur Elephant Reserve and one of the few remaining breeding places of the white-winged wood duck, the State bird of Assam.
Sonai-Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary (120 sq km) was declared Nameri's satellite core in 2015; key species include leopard, elephant and clouded leopard.

Practise a UPSC-style question

With reference to the Conservation Assured | Tiger Standards (CA|TS), consider the following statements:

1. Participation in it is mandatory for every tiger reserve notified under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

2. A participating site is recorded as Registered, and as Approved once it is verified as meeting the standards.

3. Final approval of a site is given by the CA|TS International Executive Committee after a national audit.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

Show the answer

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only

1 is incorrect: CA|TS is a voluntary, independent scheme that any tiger conservation area may join; no Indian law requires it. 2 is correct: sites are recorded as Registered (standard not yet attained) or Approved (standards verified through audit and independent review). 3 is correct: the process runs from self-assessment to a national audit and ends with approval by the International Executive Committee, as in Nameri's case.

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