Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday visited the Gir National Park in Gujarat, where he chaired the 7th meeting of the National Board for Wildlife. The National Board for Wildlife reviewed various initiatives undertaken by the Government in wildlife conservation, highlighting achievements in the creation of new protected areas and species-specific flagship programs such as project tiger, project elephant, project snow leopard, among others. The Board also discussed conservation efforts for dolphins and Asiatic lions, and the establishment of the International Big Cats Alliance.
Around 6,327 dolphins are in India
During the meeting, the prime minister released the report of the first-ever riverine dolphin estimation conducted in the country, which estimated a total of 6,327 dolphins. This pioneering effort involved surveying 28 rivers across eight states, with 3150 mandays dedicated to covering over 8,500 kilometers. Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest numbers, followed by Bihar, West Bengal, and Assam.
Prime Minister 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.
Prime Minister 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.
PM 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, PM Modi asserted that lion conservation in Barda will be supported through prey augmentation and other habitat improvement efforts.
Underscoring the importance of eco-tourism as a means for development and conservation of wildlife habitats, he emphasised that there should be ease of travelling and connectivity for wildlife tourism.
For effective management of human-wildlife conflict, he 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.
(With agency inputs)
Also read: PM Modi goes on lion safari in Gujarat's Gir National Park on World Wildlife Day | Video