Chandigarh stands highest among the best-performing Union Territories in India in terms of protecting areas, as per the just-released Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) Report 2020–25 of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). The report released by Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav at the Indian Conservation Conference (ICCON) 2025, held in Dehradun, ranked the management effectiveness in 438 National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries in the nation.
What is the MEE, and how is it calculated?
- The MEE is a structured evaluation based on the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) model of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
- It rates protected area management against 32 headline indicators.
These range across a broad set of criteria, including
- Legal and governance status
- Protection of habitat and species
- Anti-poaching and enforcement practice
- Community engagement
- Investment in infrastructure and resources
- Research, monitoring, and adaptive management
- Threat response and evaluation
- Biodiversity conservation results.
Every indicator is graded, and the aggregate determines the site's grade
- Very Good: 75–89%
- Good: 60–74%
- Fair: 50–59%
- Poor: below 50%
Exceptional performance of Chandigarh
- Chandigarh recorded a thorough 85.16%, classifying it as a "Very Good" rating—the highest among all Union Territories.
- Chandigarh stands head and shoulders above all other UTs and indeed most states, with excellent levels of protected area management, habitat protection, and conservation outcomes.
- Chandigarh has been successful, the report says, due to strong anti-poaching interventions, effective habitat rehabilitation, high level of community involvement, and efficient utilization of resources.
National context and key findings
Out of 438 protected areas evaluated
- 84 were rated as "Very Good"
- 214 were ranked as "Good"
- 122 were categorized as "Fair"
- 18 were flagged as "Poor"
- Kerala was declared as the state champion with 76.22% ("Very Good") and secured the place over Karnataka, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh with "Good" ratings.
- Ladakh was the sole region classified as "Poor" (34.9%), which revealed key management issues.
- For the first time, the assessment covered 113 Coastal and Marine Protected Areas (CMPAs), expanding India's horizon for conservation assessment.
Significance
The MEE report is an important barometer to gauge India's efforts towards biodiversity conservation and protected area management. Chandigarh, standing atop the Union Territory ranking, demonstrates its priority and commitment toward ecological management, and it should serve as an example for others.
Chandigarh's protected areas have provided a national benchmark of performance in management, as determined in the MEE Report 2020–25. It is evidence of the city's commitment to conservation, strong management practices, and model protected area governance in India.