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India moves to include elephant, bustard in global conservation list
Why in news?
- India will be moving to include the Asian Elephant and the Great Indian Bustard in the list of species that merit heightened conservation measures.
- The list will be debated at the 13th Conference of Parties (COP) of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), an environment treaty under the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
More in news
- Gujarat convention
(1) COP is scheduled from Feb 17 to 22 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
(2)m There are 130 parties to the convention and India has been a member since 1983.
(3) The elephant faces risks particularly in neighbouring Bangladesh and Nepal.
(4) India is home to several migratory species of wildlife, including the snow leopard, Amur falcons, bar- headed geese, black-necked cranes, marine turtles, dugongs and hump-backed whales.
(5) Having the elephant and the Great Indian Bustard in the list — more formally known as Appendix 1 — would coax countries neighbouring India, where wild animals such as tigers and elephant foray into, to direct more resources and attention to protecting them.
(6) There are now 173 species in Appendix 1.
- The Union Environment Ministry reports India as having 29,964 elephants according to the Project Elephant Census in 2017. The pachyderm merits the highest level of protection, or Schedule 1, under the Wildlife Protection Act.
- India to lead
(1) India has been designated the President of COP for next 3 years.
(2) Seven species that include Dugong, Whale Shark, Marine Turtle (two species), have been identified for preparation of Conservation and Recovery Action Plan.
- Theme of CMS COP13 in India is, “Migratory species connect the planet and we welcome them home.
- The CMS COP 13 logo is inspired by ‘Kolam’, a traditional artform from southern India. In the logo of CMS COP-13, Kolam art form is used to depict key migratory species in India like Amur falcon, humpback whale and marine turtles.
- The mascot for CMS COP13, “Gibi - The Great Indian Bustard” is a critically endangered species which has been accorded the highest protection status under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
- The Indian sub-continent is also part of the major bird flyway network, i.e, the Central Asian Flyway (CAF) that covers areas between the Arctic and Indian Oceans, and covers at least 279 populations of 182 migratory water bird species, including 29 globally threatened species.
Sources
The Hindu