Plan to protect endangered birds submitted to MoEF….Aakriti Vasudeva
Wildlife Conservation – Less than 300 great indian bustard are left in the world; number of lesser florican birds in india has dwindled over the years.
Wildlife Conservation – Less than 300 great indian bustard are left in the world; number of lesser florican birds in india has dwindled over the years.
Mumbai A draft national recovery plan for the critically endangered Great Indian Bustard (GIB) and the endangered Lesser Florican has been submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) by a task force constituted for the purpose. The draft is expected to be finalised in a months time and will be implemented within few months.
The MoEF had constituted a Task Force on Conservation of Bustard species in India to address issues in the conservation of Bustard and Florican species and to prepare an action plan for their recovery. Less than 300 Great Indian Bustard (GIB) birds are left in the world with no known breeding ground outside India and the number of Lesser Florican birds in India has also drastically dwindled over the years.
The guidelines for recovery, prepared by Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) led by Dr Asad Rahmani, World Wildlife Fund (WWF)-India led by Ravi Singh, Wildlife Institute of India and ministry officials in consultation with various field scientists and state forest departments, has been submitted to the ministry recently.
We have prepared a three-tier recovery plan for both GIB and the Lesser Florican. First is a national level plan, second is at the state level and third is a site-specific plan for different local sites in the state where the birds are found. The recovery plan concentrates on both habitat recovery as well as species recovery, said Pramod Patil, a member of the core committee which prepared the first draft of the plan. The plan applies to Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
The species recovery plan for both the GIB and the Lesser Florican, which were declared as critically endangered and endangered respectively by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2011, has a two pronged approach: study of population ecology and management intervention.
The population study will include identifying lesser known and non-breeding areas through distribution surveys and satellite telemetry programs. The management intervention will include awareness programmes through workshops and protection of birds through setting up of local monitoring networks and minimising infrastructure which is unsuitable to birds such as electric poles.
However, the intervention plan for GIB will also include captive breeding. It has been scientifically proven that GIB will not recover unless all threats to it are removed. However, that is not practically possible. Thus, captive breeding is necessary to save it from extinction, said Patil. Some of the threats to both birds are poaching, habitat loss due to encroachment, mining and overgrazing and use of pesticides.
Habitat level recovery for both birds will include protection of core breeding areas through fences and appointing forest guards to exclude disturbances from breeding birds and other nest threats, such as dogs in the case of GIB. The locals will also be involved in conservation by linking their livelihoods to it and the state government would try to acquire other conservation partners. Landscape level management plan for both birds and policies regarding grassland conservation will be implemented.
State forest departments, BNHS, WWF-India, WII, local NGOs will be involved in the implementation of the plan.