<p>Mumbai: The rewilding project involving <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/maharashtra">Maharashtra</a>’s iconic Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR)—a thriving wilderness where biodiversity flourishes across its landscape—has gathered pace.</p><p>Located in the Chandrapur district of the Vidarbha region, Tadoba is known for its rich tiger population, dense teak and bamboo forests, expansive grasslands, and serene water bodies.</p><p>TATR is the oldest and largest tiger reserve in Maharashtra, spanning around 1,727 sq km and comprising of tropical dry deciduous forests across core and buffer zones.</p>.Maharashtra's tiger count increases to 444, forest cover decreases.<p>The Maharashtra Forest Department (MFD) has signed an MoU with Zerodha and conservation partner Farmers for Forests to implement the initiative.</p><p>The project is expected to play a key role in long-term ecological restoration and climate resilience in the region.</p><p>Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who hails from Nagpur, the hub of the Vidarbha region, is personally overseeing the ecological restoration (rewilding) effort. </p><p>“The initiative will be Maharashtra’s first comprehensive landscape restoration project, integrating diverse land types such as protected forests, community lands, agricultural fields, grasslands, and water bodies. Scientific, site-specific interventions will be implemented to restore ecosystems, enhance biodiversity, and strengthen human-wildlife coexistence,” official sources said.</p><p>TATR is home to over 80 tigers and has recorded a notable rise in tiger numbers over the past decade.</p>.MoEF asks state to probe complaint on illegal resort in Bhadra tiger reserve ESZ.<p>Apart from tigers, the reserve supports leopards, wild dogs (dholes), sloth bears, gaurs, several deer species, reptiles including the endangered Indian python, and more than 195 species of birds, making it a major biodiversity hub in central India.</p><p>However, the growing tiger population alongside expanding human settlements in buffer zones has led to increased human-wildlife conflict. Habitat fragmentation due to development has further underscored the need for integrated, community-driven restoration measures.</p><p>“The project goes beyond conventional plantation efforts. It focuses on restoring natural ecological processes, enhancing habitat complexity, and enabling free movement of wildlife across landscapes,” officials said.</p><p>The initiative is designed to benefit wildlife, local communities, and climate resilience simultaneously. By addressing root causes of habitat degradation through coordinated interventions across land types, it aims to ensure long-term ecological stability.</p><p>The project also complements ongoing conservation efforts in eastern Maharashtra.</p><p>Since 2021, Farmers for Forests has been working across nearly two lakh hectares of forest, agricultural, and community lands.</p><p>“Their efforts include forest protection, afforestation, community engagement, awareness drives through street plays, fire management, distribution of energy-efficient cookstoves, and habitat improvement—all aimed at reducing human-wildlife conflict,” officials said.</p><p><strong>Under the MoU, the project aims to:</strong></p><p>1. Restore over 800 acres of degraded land around the reserve</p><p>2. Generate more than 15,000 rural employment days through restoration activities, community nurseries, and ecological monitoring</p><p>3. Plant and conserve over 100 native species of trees, shrubs, and grasses to support prey species and wildlife habitats</p>
<p>Mumbai: The rewilding project involving <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/maharashtra">Maharashtra</a>’s iconic Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR)—a thriving wilderness where biodiversity flourishes across its landscape—has gathered pace.</p><p>Located in the Chandrapur district of the Vidarbha region, Tadoba is known for its rich tiger population, dense teak and bamboo forests, expansive grasslands, and serene water bodies.</p><p>TATR is the oldest and largest tiger reserve in Maharashtra, spanning around 1,727 sq km and comprising of tropical dry deciduous forests across core and buffer zones.</p>.Maharashtra's tiger count increases to 444, forest cover decreases.<p>The Maharashtra Forest Department (MFD) has signed an MoU with Zerodha and conservation partner Farmers for Forests to implement the initiative.</p><p>The project is expected to play a key role in long-term ecological restoration and climate resilience in the region.</p><p>Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who hails from Nagpur, the hub of the Vidarbha region, is personally overseeing the ecological restoration (rewilding) effort. </p><p>“The initiative will be Maharashtra’s first comprehensive landscape restoration project, integrating diverse land types such as protected forests, community lands, agricultural fields, grasslands, and water bodies. Scientific, site-specific interventions will be implemented to restore ecosystems, enhance biodiversity, and strengthen human-wildlife coexistence,” official sources said.</p><p>TATR is home to over 80 tigers and has recorded a notable rise in tiger numbers over the past decade.</p>.MoEF asks state to probe complaint on illegal resort in Bhadra tiger reserve ESZ.<p>Apart from tigers, the reserve supports leopards, wild dogs (dholes), sloth bears, gaurs, several deer species, reptiles including the endangered Indian python, and more than 195 species of birds, making it a major biodiversity hub in central India.</p><p>However, the growing tiger population alongside expanding human settlements in buffer zones has led to increased human-wildlife conflict. Habitat fragmentation due to development has further underscored the need for integrated, community-driven restoration measures.</p><p>“The project goes beyond conventional plantation efforts. It focuses on restoring natural ecological processes, enhancing habitat complexity, and enabling free movement of wildlife across landscapes,” officials said.</p><p>The initiative is designed to benefit wildlife, local communities, and climate resilience simultaneously. By addressing root causes of habitat degradation through coordinated interventions across land types, it aims to ensure long-term ecological stability.</p><p>The project also complements ongoing conservation efforts in eastern Maharashtra.</p><p>Since 2021, Farmers for Forests has been working across nearly two lakh hectares of forest, agricultural, and community lands.</p><p>“Their efforts include forest protection, afforestation, community engagement, awareness drives through street plays, fire management, distribution of energy-efficient cookstoves, and habitat improvement—all aimed at reducing human-wildlife conflict,” officials said.</p><p><strong>Under the MoU, the project aims to:</strong></p><p>1. Restore over 800 acres of degraded land around the reserve</p><p>2. Generate more than 15,000 rural employment days through restoration activities, community nurseries, and ecological monitoring</p><p>3. Plant and conserve over 100 native species of trees, shrubs, and grasses to support prey species and wildlife habitats</p>