The Great Indian Bustard
Context
Recently, the government has come up with a comprehensive conservation initiative to protect the Great Indian Bustard (GIB) and Lesser Florican by leveraging financial and technical resources.
Relevance:
GS-03 (Conservation)
Key Highlights:
- The National CAMPA sanctioned ₹77.05 crore for a five-year Conservation Action Plan in 2024 to safeguard the GIB and Lesser Florican.
- National CAMPA: It promotes afforestation and regeneration activities to compensate for the forested land that was diverted to non-forest uses.
- CAMPA stands for Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority.
- A similar program was launched earlier in 2016. It had sanctioned ₹33.85 crore for habitat improvement and breeding efforts.
Conservation Action Plan (2024)
- This plan focuses on ex-situ and in-situ conservation encompassing key activities like habitat improvement, predator protection, artificial insemination development, telemetry tracking, and community involvement.
- The main aim of the plan is to strengthen conservation from the grassroots level.
The Great Indian Bustard:
- It is India’s most critically endangered avian species.
- GIB is also the State bird of Rajasthan and is regarded as a symbol of the grassland ecosystem’s vitality.
- It is primarily distributed around Rajasthan and Gujarat, with some smaller populations persisting in Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh.
- It is classified as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and included in Appendix I of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS).
- Additionally, it is protected under Schedule I of India’s Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972.
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