PM unveils fresh roadmap for wildlife conservation push

Ahmedabad: On World Wildlife Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a slew of initiatives aimed at bolstering conservation efforts for threatened big cat species, enhancing animal longevity through real-time health monitoring, mitigating human-animal conflicts, and boosting community participation in conservation projects.
Chairing the seventh meeting of the National Board for Wildlife on Monday in Sasan, the only abode of Asiatic lions, Modi announced that the lion census would be conducted in May. This would be the 16th quinquennial count, with the 2020 census revealing 674 lions in Gujarat.
Modi also laid the foundation stone for the National Referral Disease Centre (NRDC), a crucial facility to be developed on 20.24 hectares of land at New Pipaliya village near Junagadh. The centre will play a key role in wildlife health management, acting as the nerve centre for disease surveillance, health monitoring, and coordinated governance of wildlife health across species.
NBWL, which has 47 members from different states and representatives of NGOs, is a statutory body that advises the govt on wildlife conservation. The theme for the 2025 World Wildlife Day is ‘investing in people and planet.'
Earlier, the PM spent around 150 minutes on a jungle safari in Sasan-Gir, beginning at 6:30 am, and captured the majestic lions in his lens. Modi said the population of Asiatic lions has seen a steady rise due to collective efforts and commended the contribution of tribals and women living in surrounding areas in preserving the habitat.
Importantly, he also announced that cheetahs will be released in the sprawling Banni Grassland of Kutch, which is being developed as a second home to reintroduce the spotted predator in India after Project Cheetah's success at Kuno Palpur. The project will be extended to Gandhisagar Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh.
Modi also announced the setting up of a Centre of Excellence for Human-Wildlife Conflict Management, SACON, at Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.
The meeting was attended by union minister of environment, forest and climate change, Bhupender Yadav and other members. The meeting also reviewed Project Lion, Project Tiger, Project Elephant, Project Snow Leopard, and discussed conservation efforts for dolphins and Asiatic lions along with enhancing the role of the International Big Cats Alliance.
The NBWL board and environment ministry were asked to constitute various task forces to work on dwindling numbers of Indian sloth bear, gharial, and the Great Indian Bustard conservation and development
Modi Tweet
"Over the last decade, the population of tigers, leopards, rhinos have risen too, indicating how deeply we cherish wildlife and are working to build sustainable habitats for animals."
BOXES
6,237 river dolphins thrive in 28 states
India is home to 6,237 riverine dolphins. The PM released the Wildlife Institute of India's (WII) report of the maiden riverine dolphin estimation conducted in the country, which pegged the count at 6,327 dolphins flourishing in 28 rivers of 28 states, covering 8,500 km. Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest numbers, followed by Bihar, West Bengal, and Assam.
CoE to mitigate man-animal conflict
To strengthen human-wildlife conflict management, the PM announced the setting up of a Centre of Excellence at the WII campus in collaboration with the Coimbatore-based Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON). The centre will provide technical support to states by equipping rapid response teams with advanced tracking technology and surveillance gadgets, recommending Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) in conflict-prone zones, and enhancing the capacity of frontline field staff and local communities to implement conflict mitigation measures.
BOLSTERING CONSERVATION
* Using remote sensing, geospatial mapping and AI & machine Learning to combat issues like forest fires and human-animal conflicts
* Wildlife Institute of India and Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG-N) to address the challenges of human-wildlife conflict
* BISAG-N will collaborate with the Forest Survey of India, Dehradun for using space technology to monitor and manage of forest fires
* Community reserves will be established to involve participation of locals in conservation
* Encourage research & documentation of medicinal plants in forest areas which can play a crucial role in animal health management