Bhopal, June 13 (IANS) All national parks in Madhya Pradesh will now have offices of the Tiger Foundation Society which would help raise funds for tiger conservation, officials here said. The field directors of the national parks and a regional director of a tiger reserve would be the ex-officio executive directors of the foundation society, which comes under the supervision of the National Tiger Conservation Authority.

“The objective of establishing the Tiger Foundation Society’s units in the national parks is to raise funds through various sources for the tiger reserves,” a wildlife department official here said.

“Necessary changes are being made in the rules and regulations of the Tiger Foundation Society for this purpose. The regional director of a tiger reserve and the field director of a national park would be the ex-officio directors of the foundation. They would work for fulfilling the objectives of the institutions at the regional level,” the official said.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Madhya Pradesh Tiger Foundation Society held in Bhopal last week, under the chairmanship of State Forest Minister Vijay Shah.

Shah directed the officials to make the national parks more attractive for tourists and intensify patrolling to boost security.

Shah also asked the officials to provide special protection to the 10 newly-born tiger cubs in Pench National Park.

The decision to set up tiger foundation offices in tiger reserves was taken as per the provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972.