New Delhi — A group of conservation organizations has written to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), asking it to make all states follow its multi-criteria guidelines for identifying wildlife corridors, instead of relying only on the Least Cost Path (LCP) model. The letter was signed by groups including WWF-India, Wildlife Trust of India, and The Shola Trust. Why LCP Model Alone Is Not Enough According to the letter, LCPs show just a single, narrow route between two protected areas. But evidence suggests wild animals, especially tigers, rarely use one exact or shortest path. The group flagged Maharashtra State Board for Wildlife’s (SBWL) recent decision to bypass NTCA’s established guidelines and use only the LCP model for corridor demarcation. They called it a matter of concern. NTCA’s 2023 Multi-Criteria Approach NTCA’s 2023 guidelines recommend a comprehensive method using 6 types of data: Telemetry Genetics Occupancy surveys Camera trap data Habitat assessments Human impact evaluations The letter said this approach ensures stronger protection and prevents tiger habitats from being diluted at a national level. The recent All India Tiger Estimation (AITE) 2022 report, co-authored by NTCA and Wildlife Institute of India (WII), also recommends updating corridors using new field and remote sensing data. Risks of Using Only LCP The letter noted that LCP ignores key factors like available tiger habitat, forest cover, tiger presence, movement and dispersal patterns, genetic connectivity, and barriers from human activity. “This risks opening up large and critical areas that enable connectivity to be diverted towards unplanned land-use change and escalating human-wildlife conflict in the landscape, the cost of which is already enormous,” it stated. Key Demands To address this, the organizations asked NTCA to: Update corridor files on its website with the latest maps from the 2022 AITE report Include data from published studies, telemetry, genetics, and tiger presence records Mandate all states to follow the multi-criteria guidelines instead of LCP alone Post navigation El Niño: Will The Rain Stop Now? Next Few Days Are Critical, Major Alert Over Its Dangerous Impact Joint Search On For 3,500-kg, 400-Year-Old Cannon Stolen From MP’s Narwar Fort
