On the occasion of World Wildlife Day, on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced 9 significant decisions and findings to improve conservation efforts in India. These include foundation stone of National Referral Centre for Wildlife at Junagadh; 16th Asiatic Lion Population Estimation to be conducted in 2025 and establishment of a Centre of Excellence to deal with Human-wildlife conflict; Cheetah introduction to Gandhisagar Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh and Banni Grasslands in Gujarat; a new Project for Gharials and a National Great Indian Bustard Conservation Action Plan among others.
The first ever riverine dolphin estimation has estimated there are 6,327 dolphins, according to the dolphin population estimation report released by Modi on Monday.
Modi chaired the meeting of the National Board for Wildlife meeting on Monday in Gujarat’s Gir. Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of river dolphins, followed by Bihar, West Bengal, and Assam. The estimation involved surveying 28 rivers across eight states, with 3,150 man-days dedicated to covering over 8,500 km.
The National Board for Wildlife reviewed various initiatives undertaken by the Government in wildlife conservation and new protected areas. The Board also discussed conservation efforts for dolphins and Asiatic lions, and the establishment of the International Big Cats Alliance. Modi emphasised the importance of awareness on dolphin conservation by involvement of local population and villagers in the areas. He also advised organising exposure visits of school children in dolphin habitat areas during the meeting.
He also laid the foundation stone of the National Referral Centre for Wildlife at Junagadh, which will function as the hub for coordination and governance of various aspects related to wildlife health and disease management. Population estimation of Asiatic Lions is carried out once every five years. The last such exercise was carried out in 2020. Modi announced the initiation of the 16th cycle of lion estimation to be conducted in 2025.
Considering that the Asiatic Lions have now made Barda Wildlife Sanctuary their home through natural dispersal, Prime Minister announced that lion conservation in Barda will be supported through prey augmentation and other habitat improvement efforts. He emphasised that there should be ease of travelling and connectivity for wildlife tourism.
For effective management of human-wildlife conflict, Modi made an announcement for establishing a Centre of excellence at Wildlife Institute of India- Campus in SACON (Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History), Coimbatore.
The centre will also support the states and UTs in equipping Rapid Response Teams with advanced technology, gadgets for tracking, forewarning; prescribe surveillance and Intrusion Detection Systems in human-wildlife conflict hotspots; and build capacity of field practitioners and community to execute conflict mitigation measures, the statement issued by union environment ministry said.
Modi recommended usage of remote sensing and geospatial mapping and Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning to combat issues like forest fires and human-animal conflicts. He suggested engagement of the Wildlife Institute of India with the Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG-N) to address the challenge of human-wildlife conflict. “To enhance the monitoring and management of forest fires, particularly in highly sensitive protected areas, focusing on prediction, detection, prevention, and control, the Prime Minister advised for a collaboration between the Forest Survey of India, Dehradun, and BISAG-N through use of space technology,” the statement added.
Modi announced that the Cheetah introduction will be expanded to other areas including the Gandhisagar Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh and Banni Grasslands in Gujarat. He also announced a scheme focused on the conservation of tigers outside tiger reserves. The initiative aims to address human-tiger and other co-predator conflicts in areas outside these reserves by ensuring co-existence with local communities.
Recognising the dwindling population of gharials and a view of ensuring the conservation of Gharials, Prime Minister also announced the initiation of a new Project on Gharials for their conservation. Among other important decisions, he announced a National Great Indian Bustard Conservation Action Plan.
During the review meeting, Prime Minister asked the Board and Environment Ministry to gather traditional knowledge and manuscripts of various regions of India with respect to conservation and management of forests and wildlife for research and development. Prime Minister chalked out a roadmap for wildlife conservation strategy and future actions for the Ministry and also asked to constitute various task forces to work on Indian Sloth Bear, Gharial and Great Indian Bustard conservation and development.
PM commended the active participation of local communities in conservation, especially through the establishment of Community Reserves. Over the past decade, India has witnessed more than six-fold increase in the number of community reserves.