The National Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) has approved an amount of Rs 77.05 Cr fora period of five years for the Conservation Action Plan for the Great Indian Bustard (GIB) and Lesser Florican in 2024.

A programme titled,‘Habitat Improvement and Conservation Breeding of the Great Indian Bustard – an Integrated Approach’ was sanctioned with the funding support from the CAMPA in 2016 with an outlay of Rs. 33.85 crores. The Programme has achieved success in:

1. Establishing conservation breeding facilities for GIBat Sam and Ramdeora, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.
2. Securing partial founder population of GIB.
3. Commencing captive breeding of GIB from the founder population in Conservation Breeding Centre.
4. Advancing ecological knowledge on GIB with the aid of range-wide surveys, telemetry, intensive population, behavioural, and habitat monitoring, and molecular research.
5. Using this information and advocacy to guide actions for habitat improvement.

The Conservation Action Plan for the Great Indian Bustardand Lesser Florican aims at ex-situ and in -situ conservation for Great Indian Bustard and lesser florican. The action plan provides for GIB survey, development and implementation of ArtificialInsemination techniques, habitat improvement, measures for protection from predators, community participation in conservation and awareness generation, Telemetry & tracking of wild populations etc.

A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between Wildlife Institute of India and the InternationalFund for Houbara Conservation, United Arab Emirates  to undertake collaborative workaimed at the conservation of the Great Indian Bustard.

This information was given by Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shri Kirti Vardhan Singh in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

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