Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh – WWF-India, in collaboration with the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, released a scientific report titled Status of Large Carnivores and Wild Ungulates in North and South Balaghat Forest Divisions. The report celebrates Balaghat's emergence as a unique model of wildlife conservation outside protected areas. The report was released today by Shri Subharanjan Sen, PCCF & HoFF, Madhya Pradesh Forest Department; Dr. Samita Rajora, Chief Wildlife Warden, Madhya Pradesh; Shri L. Krishnamoorthy, APCCF Wildlife, Madhya Pradesh Forest Department; Shri Gaurav Chaudhary, Chief Conservator of Forest, Balaghat; Shri Ravi Singh, Secretary General and CEO, WWF-India; Shri Sanket Bhale, Director, Central India Landscape, WWF-India and Dr. Deepti Gupta, Conservation Science Specialist, Central India Landscape, WWF-India.
Part of the Central Indian Landscape, the North and South Balaghat Forest Divisions in Madhya Pradesh form a vital corridor between the Kanha and Pench Tiger Reserves, enabling tiger dispersal and ensuring long-term genetic connectivity across the Kanha–Pench Corridor.
The study conducted between November 2021 and February 2022 identified 24 mammalian species in Balaghat, highlighting Balaghat's rich biodiversity. Eighteen individual tigers and 27 individual leopards were photo-captured in just two ranges in South Balaghat. These numbers indicate that the Balghat is a critical stronghold for large carnivores, particularly tigers and leopards. Ungulate densities, while relatively low, were comparable to those in some protected areas in central India, such as the Sanjay-Dubri Tiger Reserve, the Veerangna Durgawati Tiger Reserve, and the Guru Ghasidas National Park.
The current status of Balaghat as a territorial forest limits the financial resources that are needed to manage and monitor these populations and their habitat. The results of the study not only highlight the thriving mammalian biodiversity of Balaghat but also demand that Balaghat be accorded the same conservation resources and attention as any protected area, through initiatives such as the "Tigers Outside Tiger Reserves" project of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
Speaking on the occasion, Shr Ravi Singh, Secretary General & CEO of WWF-India, said, "Balaghat stands as a beacon of hope for tiger conservation beyond protected areas. It demonstrates how management direction, collaborative and science-based conservation can highlight non-protected forests into thriving habitats for wildlife."
Shri Subharanjan Sen, PCCF & HoFF of the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, added, "This report is not merely a documentation of numbers and distribution patterns, but a reflection of what sustained protection, scientific management, and community participation can achieve in territorial forest landscapes. The lessons emerging from Balaghat reinforce an important principle for the future of conservation in Madhya Pradesh and India—that the wildlife will not be secured within protected areas alone, but across entire forested landscapes."
The report also outlines a strategic roadmap for securing Balaghat's future as a resilient, multi-use landscape. The report highlights key conservation challenges, including habitat fragmentation from infrastructure development, expansion of mining operations, habitat degradation, and potential human-wildlife conflict, that need to be addressed. Besides improved protection and wildlife monitoring, the report also highlights the need for systematic habitat management, including invasive removal, forest fire management and wetlands conservation. The report also recommends strengthening community institutions and enhancing the community's role in forest governance.
Download the report here.
For more information, please contact:
Sneha Tiwari, stiwari@wwfindia.net or call her at 7489805001.
