Conservation of tiger, an umbrella species, ensures the protection of habitats of several other species while ensuring continuity of ecological and evolutionary processes in the wild. The Project Tiger which started with just 9 Tiger Reserves is now having 50 Tiger Reserves spread over 18 Tiger Range States of India.

While the tiger reserves are being established with the primary objective of conserving the tiger and associated biodiversity values at ecosystem level, these reserves also offer a wide range of ecosystem services having social, cultural and economic benefits to the society. However, these ecosystem service benefits at various scales like local, regional, national and global were not quantified so far.

Considering the importance of contribution of tiger reserves not just for biodiversity conservation but also in generating ecosystem services, a pilot study was commissioned by NTCA for economic valuation of select tiger reserves.

The Phase I of the study focused on 6 tiger reserves; Corbett, Kanha, Kaziragna, Periyar, Ranthambore and Sundarbans Tiger Reserve and phase II involved 10 tiger reserves (Anamalai, Bandipur, Dudhwa, Melghat, Nagarjunsagar Srisailam, Pakke, Palamau, Panna, Similipal and Valmiki Tiger Reserves). The findings of the study highlight the importance of conserving tiger reserves and the need for continued investment in their protection.

Details pertaining to methodology used for estimation and results are given in the following publications: