About MEE

• MEE is a joint effort of Wildlife Institute of India and Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
• Protected Area (PA) management effectiveness evaluation (MEE) is defined as the assessment of how well National Parks and Wildlife sanctuaries are being managed—primarily, whether they are protecting their values and achieving the goals and objectives agreed upon. 
• The term ‘management effectiveness’ reflects three main themes of PA management:

1. Design issues relating to both individual sites and PA systems
2. The adequacy and appropriateness of management systems and processes
3. Delivery of the objectives of NP&WLS, including conservation of values.

• Management Effectiveness Evaluation of Protected Areas has emerged as a key tool for PA managers and is increasingly being used by governments and international bodies to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the protected area management systems.

Assessment

• The 30 ‘Headline Indicators’ developed under 6 Elements of MEE framework suitable in Indian context for evaluation. Each ‘Headline Indicator’ had four possible answers, ‘poor’ (score 2.5), ‘fair’ (score 5), ‘good’ (score 7.5) and ‘very good’ (score 10) to choose for evaluation.The total score would be 300 by including maximum score of all questions.
• The ratings assigned in four categories, as Poor – upto 40%; Fair – 41 to 59%; Good -60 to 74%; Very Good – 75% and above.

About India’s Protected Areas

• India’s major portion of biodiversity is being safeguarded as Protected Areas (PAs). India has systematically designated its PAs in four legal categories viz. National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Conservation Reserves and Community Reserves under Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. 
• As per this Act, India has set up 903 formally designated PAs with the total coverage 1,65,012.65 sq. km (5.02% of the country’s geographical area). Among 903 PAs, 101 National Parks, 553 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 86 Conservation Reserves and 163 Community Reserves (as on 1st January, 2020). 
• The National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries are presently the categories being subjected to evaluation through management effectiveness evaluation process.

About Wildlife Institute of India (WII)

• WII is an Autonomous Institution of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, established in 1982. 
• WII is an internationally acclaimed Institution, which offers training programs, academic courses and advisory in wildlife research and management. The Institute is actively engaged in research across the breadth of the country on biodiversity related issues.

Why in the news?

• The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has released Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) 2018-19 of 146 National Park and Wildlife Sanctuaries in the Country.
• The assessment of management effectiveness of these Protected areas is essential to know how best the country is doing in its conservation efforts.
• The minister also said that from 2021 onwards 10 best National Parks, 5 coastal and Marine parks and top five Zoos in the country will be ranked and awarded every year.

Results of MEE 2018-19

• The results of the present assessment are encouraging with an overall mean MEE score of 62.01% which is higher than the global mean of 56%. 

Tirthan Wildlife Sanctuary and Great Himalayan National Park in Himachal Pradesh were rated with the highest MEE score of 84.17% and Turtle Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttar Pradesh rated with least MEE score of 26.66%.

• With this round of evaluation, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) successfully completed one full cycle of evaluating all terrestrial National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries of the country from 2006 to 2019.

MEE-ZOO

• MoEFCC has also launched  Management Effectiveness Evaluation of Indian Zoos (MEE-ZOO) framework which proposes guidelines, criteria and indicators for evaluation of zoos of the country through Management Effectiveness Evaluation Process in a manner which is discrete, holistic and independent.
• The MEE-ZOO exercise is moving towards developing highest standards in Zoos across India and adhering to core values of accountability, transparency, innovation, use of technology, collaboration and integrity to achieve the mandate of conservation of endangered species.

Reference:

1. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1687688