The Report of the Tiger Task Force was presented here today to Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh by Dr Sunita Narain, chairperson of the task force. Complimenting the task force for undertaking a comprehensive study of the status of tiger and forest conservation in record time, the Prime Minister directed the Ministry of Environment & Forests to study the report's recommendations within three months and outline actions for immediate implementation.

The Prime Minister has agreed to chair the Steering Committee of Project Tiger.

He assured that an independent audit of Project Tiger will be presented annually to Parliament.

The task force's recommendation to create a Wildlife Crimes Bureau was also accepted by the Prime Minister.

He commended the task force for its ideas pertaining to the welfare and livelihood of people living in forests, national parks and reserves.

He also agreed with the suggestion that the benefits of tourism in and around wildlife reserves should be shared with local communities.

All other recommendations pertaining to the management of forests, reserves and national parks, administrative reforms with respect to the forest service and forests rangers, reform of training and research institutions, involvement of state governments and other stake-holders will be examined by the union ministry of environment and forests. The ministry has been asked to examine these recommendations and report back to the Prime Minister within three months on actions proposed to be taken.