After tiger\, lion & dolphin to get projects for conservation
NEW DELHI: On the lines of the successful conservation programmes Project Tiger and Project Elephant, India will now have two more similar missions, Project Dolphin and Project Lion, to protect these species in their natural habitat in a holistic manner.
“We have successfully carried forward Project Tiger and Project Elephant. The tiger population has increased in India,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech while announcing how similar projects for Asiatic lions and dolphins, living in the rivers and in the seas, would give a boost to biodiversity and create employment opportunities.
Underlining that the country is committed towards promotion and conservation of its biodiversity, Modi said, “India has shown that the march towards development is possible by balancing the environment".
Gangetic river dolphin, declared as a National Aquatic species in 2010, act as ideal ecological indicators of a healthy riverine ecosystems. It’s a species of freshwater dolphins primarily found in the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers and their tributaries in India, Bangladesh and Nepal.
At present, there are about 3,700 Gangetic river dolphins in the Indian river systems. These dolphins are sighted along deep river reaches in Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The Project Dolphin, announced by the PM, will, however, cover both freshwater (river) and marine (oceanic) dolphins.
Besides helping in mitigation of pollution in rivers and oceans, the conservation of dolphins under Project mode will have potential to promote tourism.
Though India had last year launched Asiatic lion conservation project with a budgetary contribution of nearly Rs 98 crore, the Project Lion would be a holistic one with many additional components including creation of new required infrastructure, use of technology, involvement of experts for conservation, providing world standard care and health management.
The project will also address human-wildlife conflict and will be inclusive, involving local communities living in the vicinity of the lion landscape and creating livelihood opportunities for them.
Asiatic lions are found in protected areas and agro-pastoral landscape of Saurashtra, covering nine districts in Gujarat. Its current estimated population is 674. India has recorded a 29% increase in its population in the past five years — from 523 in 2015 to 674 in 2020.