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The Union Environment Minister inaugurated a Soft Release Centre for the Great Indian Bustard at Naliya in Kachchh district, Gujarat.
A chick from the second 'jump-start' egg-replacement attempt has survived beyond the critical first three months in the wild.
Around 11 sq km of grassland infested with invasive Prosopis juliflora has been restored and 30 km of predator-proof fencing raised over 15 sq km.
The Sayara Van Kavach was inaugurated — over 10,000 saplings of 47 native species on a 9.46 sq km site using the Miyawaki method.
Under MISHTI, mangrove plantation in Kachchh has reached 27,652 hectares against a 29,250-hectare target for 2023-24 to 2026-27.
A captive-bred bird is not simply let go. It is moved to a large enclosure inside its natural habitat, where it learns to forage, avoid predators and handle weather while still being fed and monitored, before the enclosure is opened. Hard release skips that step.
Simple Analogy: A halfway house between the cage and the open grassland.
Restore and afforest India's mangroves while creating coastal livelihoods.
Key: Announced in the Union Budget 2023-24, it targets roughly 540 sq km of mangroves across nine states and three Union Territories over 2023-28, funded through convergence of CAMPA, MGNREGS and other sources.
Pull the Great Indian Bustard back from the edge through conservation breeding and science-based habitat measures.
Key: Implemented by the Wildlife Institute of India with the MoEFCC and state forest departments, with funding support from the National CAMPA Authority. A conservation breeding facility was established at Sam in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, in June 2019.
Create dense, biodiversity-rich green belts around human settlements in limited space, urban and rural.
Key: A Gujarat model combining plantation, biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, environmental education and public participation; the Sayara site uses the Miyawaki method of dense multi-layered planting with native species.
Runs the GIB conservation breeding work and advises agencies on science-based in-situ measures; partnered the Gujarat Forest Department on the Kachchh interventions.
Manages the GIB landscape in Kachchh, the grassland restoration, fencing and patrolling, and the Van Kavach and mangrove nursery programmes.
Participated in the mangrove plantation at Jakhau, in the sensitive Kori Creek and Sir Creek stretch along the international boundary.
The GIB's surviving range is a thin arc across arid western India. Naliya in Kachchh is the Gujarat stronghold; the Lala-Parjan or Kutch Bustard Sanctuary near Naliya, notified in July 1992 at about 2 sq km, is the smallest wildlife sanctuary in the country. The core population sits in Rajasthan's Desert National Park, 3,162 sq km across Jaisalmer and Barmer districts in the Thar. Along the Kachchh coast are Kori Creek and Sir Creek and, in the Gulf of Kachchh off Jamnagar, the Marine National Park — India's first marine national park, notified in 1982 after the surrounding marine sanctuary in 1980.
The Great Indian Bustard is a Schedule I species, which carries the Act's highest penalties and allows no hunting except in narrowly defined circumstances.
Ardeotis nigriceps is assessed as Critically Endangered, the last category before Extinct in the Wild, with a global population estimated in the low hundreds and concentrated in Rajasthan.
The invasive mesquite that colonises arid grassland and closes the open sightlines a bustard needs; removing it over 11 sq km is habitat restoration, not landscaping.
Dense, multi-layered planting of native species designed to grow a self-sustaining forest in a small area — used at Sayara with 47 species chosen for saline, low-water conditions.
The Compensatory Afforestation Fund route finances both the Bustard Recovery Programme and the larger share of MISHTI, which is why the two very different programmes show up in the same ministerial visit.
The grey mangrove planted at Jakhau — the dominant and most salt-tolerant mangrove of Gujarat's arid coast, which is why Kachchh restoration leans on it.
GS Paper 3 > Environment and Ecology > Species Conservation and Protected Areas
General Awareness > Environment and Schemes
General Awareness > Environment
With reference to India's Desert National Park, which of the following statements are correct? 1. It is spread over two districts. 2. There is no human habitation inside the Park. 3. It is one of the natural habitats of Great Indian Bustard. Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Answer: 1 and 3 only
According to the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which of the following animals cannot be hunted by any person except under some provisions provided by law? 1. Gharial 2. Indian wild ass 3. Wild buffalo Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Answer: 1, 2 and 3
Why is a plant called Prosopis juliflora often mentioned in news?
Answer: It tends to reduce the biodiversity in the area in which it grows.
The "Miyawaki method" is well known for the:
Answer: Creation of mini forests in urban areas
The Great Indian Bustard and Desert National Park have both been asked in UPSC Prelims; MISHTI has appeared in SSC
Releasing a captive-bred animal through a monitored enclosure inside its natural habitat, so it adapts gradually before being fully free.
Replacing infertile eggs laid by wild GIB females with viable eggs from the conservation breeding programme, so a wild female raises a chick she could not otherwise have produced.
A technique of planting native species densely in multiple layers to grow a self-sustaining forest quickly in a small area.
Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes — the Union Budget 2023-24 mangrove restoration and coastal livelihoods programme.