Indicate which actions have been carried out to implement this Resolution :
Capacity-building
Convene stakeholders/Networking
Education/Communication/Raising awareness
Field activities
Fundraising
Policy influencing/advocacy
Scientific/technical activities
Describe the results/achievements of the actions taken:
As reported by WII: Meetings & workshops were carried out jointly with MoEFCC to sensitize power companies agencies and regulatory bodies on the impact of power lines on bustards and the necessity of mitigation measures. Technical inputs to several power agencies & diverter developers were provided to implement power-line mitigation measures in Important GIB Areas. Project team shared evidence-based recommendations on legal issues pertaining to GIB conservation in the Hon. Supreme Court, Jodhpur High Court, NGT Delhi and NGT Bhopal. A documentary film on GIB conservation was developed (available at youtu.be/XR5Z_rA7xd0). Four project personnel were trained in semen collection and insemination of poultry in Anand Agriculture University, Anand in February 2023. Three project personnel were trained in artificial breeding techniques at National Avian Research Centre (NARC), Abu Dhabi in 2022-23.
under their projects Sites in Ramdevra and Sorsan in Rajasthan were selected for long-term conservation breeding facilities. Since the construction and operation of new facilities would require a few years, a temporary facility was established in Sam, Jaisalmer, in June 2019. A long-term facility has been developed at Ramdevra and has been made functional in August 2022. These two facilities currently house 22 hand-reared captive GIB that were secured from 31 wild-laid and artificially incubated eggs. The world’s first captive-bred Great Indian Bustard chick hatched in March 2023 in Sam Conservation Breeding Centre (CBC) at Jaisalmer. This chick has been artificially hatched from an egg laid by a captive-reared bird via natural breeding. Conservation Breeding of LF was commenced in a temporary centre at Bijainagar, Ajmer from 2020 which houses eight LF from wild collected artificially hatched eggs, which are being reared following similar approach. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the WII and the IFHC for bustard conservation in September 2022. 3-member committee has been formed to monitor and instruct on how and where to underground the high-voltage lines (130 kV and above, as per the affidavit filed by Power Ministry), till then the bird-diverters should be installed on such lines with immediate effect. Dr. Rahul Rawat, Scientist at Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Dr. Sutirtha Dutta, Scientist at Wildlife Institute of India, and Mr. Devesh Gadhavi, Scientist and Deputy Director of The Corbett Foundation, have been appointed as the Members of this Committee.
The Corbett Foundation (TCF) has worked with Gujarat Forest Dept. to carry out trainings on satellite tagging the birds, designing/installing bird diverters on powerlinesetc. TCF also carried out extensive field activities for development and restoration of 55 acre community grazing land in Kutch, Gujarat to create suitable habitat for GIB. Several technical studies have been carried out With the valuable support of The Habitats Trust's Strategic Partnership Grant (THTSPG) - 2020, TCF has installed around 800 bird diverters on two powerlines. Communication and awareness raising has also been carried out in form of national and state level media reports, community sensitisation workshops.
What challenges/obstacles have been encountered in the implementation of this Resolution and how were they overcome :
IUCN India Country Office has not been taking up activities for this species , however IUCN Members have been actively working for the conservation of this species. Since new IUCN India Country Representative has joined office the networking, fundraising and other such initiatives can be taken up in collaboration with the IUCN Members and other government agencies.
Briefly describe what future actions are needed for the implementation of this Resolution:
One of the key action is to track , alongwith Members and other organisations the implementation of the Supreme court order on undergrounding powerlines. Convening meetings with Ministry of Power , Min of Renewable Energy is also required. Technical research on Habitat improvement and breeding programme is being carried out by WII. IUCN could support the implementation through fundraising and support to local NGOs State governments.A research centre to conserve the rare Great Indian Bustard (GIB) is all set to come up in Ballari district.The Karnataka government has agreed to sanction Rs 24 crore to set up the research centre In Karnataka, Siruguppa taluk has a GIB conservation area, which has the last surviving six birds in the state. Future strategy is to do artificial insemination for GIBs to build their gene pool and improve their numbers in the wild. Extensive communication campaign needs to be carried out. Private sector financing could also be leveraged.
Are these actions planned for yet:
