Submitted by
chatterjeea
on Wed, 08/24/2022 - 18:04
General Information
Resolution
49228
Period covered
Activities to implement this Resolution from Activity Reports
| Relevant operative para(s) of Res/Rec | Activities Overview | Description | Status | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capacity building | Coordinated several training sessions for Gujarat Forest Department personnel. Resource persons from international agencies that have expertise in putting satellite tags on Great Bustards were held. Moreover, several virtual meetings were held to discuss the most appropriate quality and design of the bird diverters to be installed on the powerlines within GIB landscape in Gujarat and Rajasthan states of India. | Completed | Full activity report | |
| Convene stakeholders/Networking | TCF held several meetings with the local stakeholders (Gujarat Forest Department, Collector, Air Force Station at Naliya, Gram Panchayat Members, power companies and villagers) to discuss the issues such as grassland habitat restoration, organic farming in GIB landscape, stall-feeding of livestock and mitigating power lines through undergrounding and/or installing bird diverters. | On-going | Full activity report | |
| Education/Communication/Raising awareness | Raised awareness among the local communities and at the national level through media reports, school and community sensitisation programmes, wrote many popular articles at the regional and national media. | On-going | Full activity report | |
| Field activities | Development and restoration of 55-acre community grazing land in Kutch, Gujarat - Invasive species have been removed (uprooted) to develop the degraded land into a grassland. The indigenous and edible grass species suitable for bustards have been sowed. The work is being carried out by involving the local village community, and a model of controlled and rotational grazing is being practised. Other activities like stall-feeding of livestock and the development of grass seed-bank are also being done through active participation and ownership of the local community. The area is very much within the 'priority' habitat of Great Indian Bustard and Lesser Florican. 5 different predator-proof exclosures (~10 acres each) have been developed under this activity. The enthusiasm and commitment of villagers from Kanakpar are the strengths of this entire work. TCF team is currently evaluating the impact of this activity on local biodiversity. Organic Farming: With the funding support of The Habitats Trust, TCF worked with 10 farmers who cultivated groundnut in their privately owned agriculture fields without using chemical fertilizers or pesticides, in an organic way. ~6000 kg of yield was sold at a higher rate within a week of the harvesting. | On-going | Full activity report | |
| Fundraising | TCF was successful in raising the following project grants for its GIB conservation work: 1. Strategic Partnership grant of The Habitats Trust for the conservation of Great Indian Bustard in Kutch, Gujarat 2. Developing a Great Indian Bustard conservation plan for the state of Maharashtra 3. Understanding the socio-economic dynamics of the local communities in and around the GIB habitat near Sam, Rajasthan | On-going | Full activity report | |
| Policy influencing/advocacy | Filed a Public Interest Litigation in the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India on the conservation of Great Indian Bustard and Lesser Florican, with a particular emphasis on mitigating the threats of power lines passing through bustard habitats in the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat. In April 2021, the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India passed a landmark order to underground the power lines that pass through identified Great Indian Bustard (GIB) habitats in Rajasthan and Gujarat. The order came during the hearing of a PIL filed by Dr. M. K. Ranjitsinh, Piraram Bishnoi, Santosh Martin, Navinbhai Bapat and The Corbett Foundation. The petitioners have requested the Hon’ble Supreme Court to take necessary decisions for the conservation of GIB (and Lesser Florican) in the country. The power lines passing through the bustard habitat are a proven fatal threat to the GIB, and are also one of the prime reasons behind the steep decline in the GIB population in the past decade. To protect the species from such a threat, the petitioners have requested the underground placement of power lines in critical bustard habitats. In addition to this, habitat protection and its proper management, control over disturbance caused by free-ranging dogs, the conservation breeding programme of GIB, and a halt to any further development/expansion of wind farms and solar parks in the bustard habitat have also been requested. The Supreme Court has appointed a 3-member committee to monitor and instruct how and where to underground the high-voltage lines. Dr. Rahul Rawat, Scientist at the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Dr. Sutirtha Dutta, Scientist at Wildlife Institute of India, and Dr. Devesh Gadhavi, Deputy Director of The Corbett Foundation, have been appointed as the Members of this Committee. | On-going | Full activity report | |
| Scientific/technical activities | 1. Collaborated with Gujarat Forest Department as the technical expert in putting satellite and GPS tags on Critically Endangered Lesser Florican (Sypheotides indicus), a resident and endemic bustard species, in Gujarat. In Sept 2020, a male and a female florican were fitted with solar-powered satellite tags. This was the first-ever tagging of a female lesser florican. A scientific paper has been published of this research in JBNHS that has highlighted the threat of power line collision in the case of lesser florican too. The tagged female, unfortunately, collided with a 33kv power line in Maharashtra on her return migratory journey from Telangana. The paper is available at https://doi.org/10.17087/jbnhs/2021/v118/167575 By the year 2022, total 12 Lesser Floricans have been tagged. 2. A collaborative study of The Corbett Foundation (TCF) and Wildlife Insititute of India says that not just the GIB but ~30,000 birds die annually due to powerline collision in Abdasa taluka of Kutch district, Gujarat. TCF has identified the powerlines responsible for the high mortality of different bird species. It was essential to reduce the bird mortality from these powerlines until they are undergrounded, as per the Hon'ble Supreme Court's order. With the valuable support of The Habitats Trust's Strategic Partnership Grant (THTSPG) - 2020, TCF has installed around 800 bird diverters on two powerlines. Total four types of diverters have been installed on 11 kV and 66 kV powerlines, passing through important bird habitats in Kutch, Gujarat. The method suggested by WII and international agencies have been followed for the scientific installation to make it more effective. TCF team is conducting a scientific study to check the impact of such bird diverters on the bird mortality. 3. TCF is working on mapping the 'revenue wastelands' suitable for Great Indian Bustard in the state of Maharashtra in collaboration with the Maharashtra Forest Department. The project work is still on. | On-going | Full activity report |
Actors involved from Activity Reports
| IUCN Members | IUCN Commissions | IUCN Secretariat | Other non-IUCN related organisations |
|---|---|---|---|
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Challenges / lessons learned from Activity Reports
External link(s)
Report status
Published
I. IUCN Constituencies implementing this Resolution
IUCN Members
The Corbett Foundation ( India )
Wildlife Institute of India ( India )
World Wide Fund for Nature - India ( India )
Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change ( India )
IUCN Commissions
No IUCN Commissions involved
IUCN Secretariat
No
Other non-IUCN related organisations
Wildlife Conservation Society, Rural India Supporting Trust, Rajasthan Forest Department
II. Implementation
Activities 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 activities
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.
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.
Challenges/obstacles encountered in the implementation of this Resolution and measures taken
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.
Future actions / activities 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/activities planned?
Yes
III. Status of implementation
Implementation status of this Resolution
Underway: implementation well-advanced