<span style="color: #222222;">Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Prakash Javadekar today released Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) of 146 National Park and Wildlife Sanctuaries in the country. At present, India has a network of 903 Protected Areas in the country covering about five per cent of the total geographic area of the country. In order to assess the efficacy of Protected Areas, evaluation of management effectiveness is required.<br />''<br />''Speaking at the event, Mr Javadekar said that what other countries could not achieve, India has achieved and today, it has a thriving biodiversity. He said, 70 per cent of the global tiger population, 70 per cent of asiatic lions and more than 60 per cent of leopards population in India is a certificate of India's thriving biodiversity.<br />''<br />''The Minister also announced that from this year onwards ten best National Parks, five Coastal and Marine parks and top five Zoos in the country will be ranked and awarded every year. Mr Javadekar also launched the Management Effectiveness Evaluation of Indian Zoos framework which proposes guidelines, criteria and indicators for evaluation of zoos of the country.</span><br />