Project Tiger was launched in 1973 in India. The project aims at ensuring a viable population of tigers in their natural habitats and preserving areas of biological importance as a natural heritage for the people. The selection of areas for the reserves represented as close as possible the diversity of ecosystems across the tiger's distribution in the country. The project's task force visualized these tiger reserves as breeding nuclei, from which surplus animals would emigrate to adjacent forests. Funds and commitment were mustered to support the intensive program of habitat protection and rehabilitation under the project.^[1] The government has set-up a Tiger Protection Force to combat poachers, and funded the relocation of up to 200,000 villagers to minimize human-tiger conflicts.^{[citation needed]}

During the tiger census of 2008, a new methodology was used extrapolating site-specific densities of tigers, their co-predators and prey derived from camera trap and sign surveys using GIS. Based on the result of these surveys, the total tiger population has been estimated at 1,411 individuals ranging from 1,165 to 1,657 adult and sub-adult tigers of more than 1.5 years of age.^[2]

Goals and objectives[link]

Project Tiger was meant to identify the limiting factors and to mitigate them by suitable management. The damages done to the habitat were to be rectified so as to facilitate the recovery of the ecosystem to the maximum possible extent.

The potential tiger habitats being covered are:^[3]

• Sivalik–Terai Conservation Unit (Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal), and in Nepal
• North east Conservation Unit
• Sunder bans Conservation Unit
• Central Indian Conservation Unit
• Eastern Ghat Conservation Unit
• Western Ghat Conservation Units

Organization[link]

Project Tiger is administered by the National Tiger Conservation Authority. The overall administration of the project is monitored by a Steering Committee. A Field Director is appointed for each reserve, who is assisted by the field and technical personnel. At the centre, a full-fledged Director of the project coordinates the work for the country.^{[citation needed]}.The main species of Tiger In India is The Royal Bengal Tiger.

Wireless communication system and outstation patrol camps have been developed within the tiger reserves, due to which poaching has declined considerably. Fire protection engineering is carried out by suitable preventive and control measures. Villages have been relocated in many reserves, especially from core areas. Livestock grazing has been controlled to a great extent in the tiger reserves. Various compensatory developmental works have improved the water regime and the ground and field level vegetation, thereby increasing the tiger density.^{[citation needed]}

Tiger conservationist Valmik Thapar has analysed the perceived failure of Project Tiger.^[4] His critique draws attention to its mismanagement by a forest bureaucracy that is largely not scientifically trained. His most recent book The Last Tiger, Oxford University Press makes this case strongly. Among the consistent criticisms levelled by Thapar is the Ministry of Environment and Forests' unwillingness to curb poaching through armed patrols and its refusal to open forests to scholarly scientific enquiry.

History[link]

The Indian tiger population at the turn of the 20th century was estimated at 20,000 to 40,000 individuals. The first country-wide tiger census conducted in 1995 estimated the population to comprise a little more than 1,800 individuals.^[1]

In 1973, the project was launched in Palamau Tiger Reserve, and various tiger reserves were created in the country based on a 'core-buffer' strategy. For each tiger reserve, management plans were drawn up based on the following principles:

• Elimination of all forms of human exploitation and biotic disturbance from the core area and rationalization of activities in the buffer zone.
• Restricting the habitat management only to repair the damages done to the ecosystem by human and other interferences so as to facilitate recovery of the ecosystem to its natural state.
• Monitoring the faunal and floral changes over time and carrying out research about wildlife.^{[citation needed]}

By the late 1980s, the initial nine reserves covering an area of 9,115 square kilometres (3,519 sq mi) had been increased to 15 reserves covering an area of 24,700 square kilometres (9,500 sq mi). More than 1100 tigers were estimated to inhabit the reserves by 1984.^[1] By 1997, 23 tiger reserves encompassed an area of 33,000 square kilometres (13,000 sq mi), but the fate of tiger habitat outside the reserves was precarious, due to pressure on habitat, incessant poaching and large-scale development projects such as dams, industry and mines.^[5]

Global organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) contributed much funding to Project Tiger.^{[citation needed]} Eventually, however, it was discovered that the project's field directors had been manipulating tiger census numbers in order to encourage more financial support.^{[citation needed]} In fact, the numbers were so exaggerated as to be biologically impossible in some cases. In addition, Project Tiger's efforts were damaged by poaching, as well as the Sariska debacle and the latest Namdapha tragedy, both of which were reported extensively in the Indian media.^{[citation needed]}

The project to map all the forest reserves in India has not been completed yet, though the Ministry of Environment and Forests had sanctioned ₨. 13 million for the same in March 2004.

The Forest Rights Act passed by the Indian government in 2006 recognises the rights of some forest dwelling communities in forest areas. This has led to controversy over implications of such recognition for tiger conservation. Some have argued that this is problematic as it will increase conflict and opportunities for poaching; some also assert that "tigers and humans cannot co-exist".^[6] Others argue that this is a limited perspective that overlooks the reality of human-tiger coexistence and the role of abuse of power by authorities, rather than local people, in the tiger crisis. This position was supported by the Government of India's Tiger Task Force, and is also taken by some forest dwellers' organisations.^[7][8]

Reports of widespread poaching of tigers in two of the premier Tiger Reserves of North India- Sariska and Ranthambore is heartbreaking news for tiger lovers all around the world. Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India, visited Ranthambore to review the condition and ordered a high level inquiry to book the culprits. A special committee of eminent ecologists and wildlife experts, under the direct supervision of the Prime Minister, has also been constituted to find new ways to curb the menace of indiscriminate poaching of tigers in India.^{[citation needed]}

Plans[link]

Wildlife protection and crime risk management in the present scenario requires a widely distributed Information Network, using state-of-the-art information and communication technology. This becomes all the more important to ensure the desired level of protection in field formations to safeguard the impressive gains of a focused project like 'Project Tiger'. The important elements in wildlife protection and control are: Mapping/Plot (graphics)plotting the relative spatial abundance of wild animals, identification of risk factors, proximity to risk factors, 'sensitivity categorization', 'crime mapping' and immediate action for apprehending the offenders based on effective networking and communication.

Six countries, including Russia and China, have sought India's help to replicate Project Tiger, one of the most successful conservation programmes running in the country to protect the big cats from extinction.

During the first stock-taking conference held in the capital in mid-May to review implementation of the Global Tiger Recovery Program (GTRP), tiger range countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Russia, Vietnam, Myanmar and China approached India to help them in conserving tigers. Considering the urgency of the situation, Project Tiger was converted into NTCA, a statutory authority, in 2006 with more power and separate funding for the conservation of tigers.

India took a lead in tiger conservation by forming the Global Tiger Forum (GTF), an international body established with members from willing countries to embark on a global campaign to protect the animal.

India's Environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan currently chairs the forum. Other members include Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bhutan, Nepal and Myanmar.

India and Russia have recently come up with a joint resolution of agreed action to protect tigers.

Collaboration on tiger conservation is already going on with Nepal, while Bangladesh, Vietnam and Myanmar want India's help in assessment and capacity building.

India's success story in reintroducing tigers from wild to wild has generated keen interest

Space technology has shown the interconnectivity of natural and anthropogenic phenomena occurring anywhere on earth. Several tiger reserves are being linked with the Project Tiger Directorate in the GIS domain for Wildlife Crime Risk Management. A 'Tiger Atlas of India' and a 'Tiger Habitat and Population Evaluation System' for the country is being developed using state-of-the-art technology. This involves:

• Mapping, data acquisition and GIS modeling
• Field data collection and validation
• Data Maintenance, dissemination and use

Satellite data is being used and classified into vegetation and land use maps on a 1:50,000 scale, with digitized data relating to contour, villages, roads, drainage, administrative boundaries and soil. The spatial layers would be attached with attribute data, viz. human population, livestock population, meteorological data, agricultural information and field data pertaining to wildlife, habitat for evolving regional protocols to monitor tigers and their habitat.

Conservation of tigers and their prey species faces challenges from the need for income, lack of awareness, and lack of land use policy in landscapes having Tiger Reserves.

See also[link]

• List of tiger reserves in India

References[link]

External links[link]

• Project Tiger

The Shanghai Restoration Project is a contemporary electronic music group formed by Chinese American producer Dave Liang. The group's first eponymous release, inspired by the Shanghai jazz bands of the 1930s, combines traditional Chinese instruments with modern hip-hop and electronica.

Biography[link]

The project debuted as MSN Music's "New Artist of the Week" in Jan. 2006, reaching #1 on the site's Top 100 Electronic Albums Chart that month. The release gained recognition globally, rising to the top 10 in several electronic charts, including Amazon, iTunes, and MSN Music. The first track from the debut album, "Introduction (1936)," was selected as the theme song for a worldwide TV advertising campaign for Kenzo Parfums (a division of Louis Vuitton) in early 2007. Since then select tracks have been licensed to numerous advertising campaigns, television shows, and films around the world. In late 2007, SRP partnered with China Record Corporation (the Chinese government's record label) to release Remixed and Restored Vol. 1, a project remixing select classic Chinese hits from 1930s Shanghai. In 2010, SRP earned a New York Emmy Award for the special entertainment news coverage of "New York 360 Angle: Shanghai Restoration Project" produced by Limei Wang.

Discography[link]

• "The Shanghai Restoration Project" (2006, Undercover Culture Music)
• "Reinterpretations" (2006, Undercover Culture Music)
• "Remixed and Restored" (2007, China Records)
• "Story of a City" (2008, Undercover Culture Music)
• "Instrumentals: Day & Night" (2008, Undercover Culture Music)
• "Zodiac" (2009, Undercover Culture Music)
• "Afterquake" with Abigail Washburn (2009, Afterquake Music)
• "eXpo" with Neocha (2010, Undercover Culture Music & Neocha)
• "Little Dragon Tales: Chinese Children's Songs" (2011, Cheng & Tsui)
• "Himalaya Song" (2012, Dream Louder & Undercover Culture Music)

Press[link]

Producer Dave Liang has discussed his various projects with NPR All Things Considered,^[1] The New York Times,^[2] The San Francisco Chronicle,^[3] BBC World Service,^[4] PRI The World,^[5] FADER^[6] and Wired.com^[7]

Other Projects[link]

The Shanghai Restoration Project has also produced releases for various artists including Universal J artist MEG, Yamaha J-pop artist Miu Sakamoto, electro pop artist Di Johnston, singer-songwriter Heath Brandon, and Japanese jazz artist Emi Meyer. Many of these releases reached #1 on various iTunes charts around the world in their respective genres.

Uses[link]

External links[link]

• Band's website
• Band's profile on Myspace
• NPR interview

References[link]

Steven Gregory Woods (born June 16, 1965 in Melfort, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian entrepreneur. He is best known for co-founding Quack.com, the first popular Voice portal platform, in 1998.

Career[link]

Motivated by Woods' desire to pull together a highly talented group of friends in one place to do something interesting for a year, Quack.com was born in 1998, funded September 1, 1999, and acquired August 31, 2000 by America Online.^[1]

Woods is currently Engineering Director for Google in Canada. ^[2] Previously, he served as Chief Technology Officer of NeoEdge Networks, in Palo Alto, California.^[3] He founded NeoEdge in 2002 under the name Kinitos^[4] along with former America Online, Netscape, and Quack.com colleagues including Jeromy Carriere. Prior to NeoEdge, Woods was Vice President of Voice Services for America Online and Netscape - joining America Online through the acquisition of Quack.com in September, 2000.^[5] Quack.com was notable as the first Voice Portal, and held a number of key patents around interactive voice applications, including the definitive Voice Portal patent - "System and method for voice access to internet-based information".^[6] In 1998 Woods co-founded Pittsburgh-based voice-portal infrastructure company Quackware with Jeromy Carriere and Alex Quilici. Quackware became Quack.com in 1999 and moved headquarters to Silicon Valley.^[7]

Before the founding of Quack.com, Woods was Technical Staff Member at Carnegie Mellon's Software Engineering Institute^[8] working on technical efforts there in product line development and practical software architectural reconstruction and analysis. He holds a Ph.D and M.Math from the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo^[9] in Canada and a B.Sc. from the University of Saskatchewan.^[10]

Woods' Ph.D was published in 1997 as a book co-written with Alex Quilici and Qiang Yang entitled "Constraint-Based Design Recovery for Software Reengineering: Theory and Experiments"^[11]

Trivia[link]

• While at the University of Waterloo, Woods captained the varsity Waterloo Warriors golf team and in 1995 was co-winner of the Ontario University Athletics "Len Shore Trophy" for top individual performance.^[12]
• During 1991-1992 Woods was a member of the Canberra Knights semi-professional ice hockey in the Australian Ice Hockey League
• Steven was awarded the J.W. Graham Medal for Computing and Innovation by the University of Waterloo in 2010.^[13]

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Research Publications by Steven Woods