India's first annual ranking of 146 National Parks & Wildlife Sanctuaries OUT; called MEE

Union Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change Prakash Javadekar on Monday released the Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) report of 146 national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in the country. Javadekar said that 70% of the global tiger population and over 60% of the leopard population in India is a "testimony of its thriving biodiversity."

'Testimony of India's thriving biodiversity

The minister also announced that from this year onwards ten best national parks, five coastal and marine parks and top five zoos in the country would be ranked and awarded every year.

"70% of the global tiger population, 70% of Asiatic lions and more than 60% of leopards' population in India is a certificate of India's thriving biodiversity, as these big cats sit at the top of the food chain and their growing numbers show the well being of the whole ecosystem," Javadekar said while releasing the report for the first time.

As per the MEE report, West Bengal's Jaldapara national park and Raiganj wildlife sanctuary, Himachal Pradesh's Sainj and Tirthan wildlife sanctuaries as well as the Great Himalayan national park have been declared as top-five national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in India.

Two wildlife sanctuaries in UP -- Turtle WLS and Jai Prakash Narayan Bird sanctuary -- and one each in Haryana, Assam and Rajasthan have been listed among the bottom five.

MEE Report 2018-19, released in 2021 by Republic World on Scribd

Framework for MEE-ZOO launched

Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) of Protected Areas (PAs) has emerged as a key tool for PA managers and is increasingly being used by governments and international bodies to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the protected area management systems, the Ministry said in a statement. 

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At present, India has a network of 903 protected areas covering about 5%of the total geographic area of the country. In order to assess the efficacy of protected areas, evaluation of management effectiveness is required, the ministry said.

The Environment Minister also launched the Management Effectiveness Evaluation of Indian Zoos (MEE-ZOO) framework which proposes guidelines, criteria and indicators for the evaluation of zoos of the country through Management Effectiveness Evaluation Process (MEE-ZOO) in a manner which is discrete, holistic and independent.

The assessment criteria and indicators look beyond the traditional concepts, include issues of animal welfare, husbandry and sustainability of resources and finance. The MEE-ZOO exercise is moving towards developing highest standards in Zoos across India and adhering to core values of accountability, transparency, innovation, use of technology, collaboration and integrity to achieve the mandate of conservation of endangered species.

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