Taking up the cause of endangered Great Indian Bustard, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has written to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to conserve one of the last remaining habitats of the golden birds - the Adbassa grassland in Kutch.
Mr. Ramesh has expressed concern at the dwindling population of the birds and sought steps to prevent diversion of revenue land for agricultural purposes in the grassland in Naliya area in Kutch.
Promising all possible help in this direction, he has urged Mr. Modi to personally intervene to save the habitat of the golden birds whose number has reduced to 500 in the world.
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“I am writing to request you to immediately intervene and prevent the diversion of revenue gauchar land to agriculture and to ensure that the district officials support the Naliya conservation initiatives.
“If we do not intervene the possibility of the birds going extinct in Gujarat is very real and high,” the Union Minister said in the letter to Mr. Modi.
Though covering only about 20 sq km of area, Adbassa grassland is considered very important for bird conservation as three species of bustard are found there.
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The endangered Great Indian Bustard is a resident, the endangered Lesser Florican breeds here during Monsoon and the near-threatened Macqueen’s Bustard is a winter visitor.
Mr. Ramesh also drew the attention of Mr. Modi to the fact that the bird was once proposed to be adopted as the country’s national bird and hence “its conservation is equally important as that of lions and tigers.”
Listed in Schedule-I of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, the bird is classified as “endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List 2002.
IUCN has warned that the Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps) could become extinct within a decade. Listed in Appendix-I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, international trade and killing of the bird is prohibited.