Nainital: Ramnagar forest division of Uttarakhand, which houses over 34 Bengal tigers, has been included in the coveted CATS (Conservation Assured Tiger Standards) list, a move which will catapult the reserve on the global stage and bring funding and guidance for protection of the big cat. The decision was taken this week by Global Tiger Forum.CATS is a global coalition formed to protect tigers with the help of governments and conservation bodies.Ramnagar division is the fourth across the globe to be included in the list and the second in Uttarakhand.So far, three sites -- Lansdowne Forest Division in Uttarakhand, Chitwan National Park in Nepal and Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve in Russia -- have been awarded CATS Approved status.According to a recent survey, only 13 per cent of tiger protected areas across Asia meet global standards.Uttarakhand forest officials told TOI that the division had to meet 163 parameters under 17 sections including protection, conservation, management and community involvement to be able to clinch a spot in the list.At present, a total of 34 tigers have been spotted in the division. There are over 300 forest officials and junior staffers working day and night for the protection of the big cats, which are under constant threat from poachers.Teams of the Global Tiger Forum made three field visits to the Ramnagar forests to take stock of the ground situation. They took hordes of documentary evidences involving the practices of conservation in the division, especially regarding tiger and elephant with them.“The members of the forum took note of patrolling and other hi-tech methods adopted by us for tiger conservation,” said Neha Verma, divisional forest officer (DFO).AG Ansari, a wildlife enthusiast and conservationist working in the hill state for the last two decades, hailed the development.“This is a great development which will help in further recognition of the state as well as Ramnagar on the global stage. This is also a boost for people who risk their lives to protect the wildlife,” Ansari said.The DFO, while talking about the development, narrated an incident of 2016 to highlight the risk associated with the tiger conservation.It was a site inspection, during the monsoon of 2016, when a forest department team led by her was charged by a tiger in Dabka area of Ramnagar division.“We were lucky that it was a mock charge and not an attack. We were there to inspect a site where two of our staffers were mauled by a tiger while patrolling on foot in dense forests,” the DFO recalled. This is just a glimpse of what goes into conservation and protection of wildlife in forests, Verma said.

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