The plan includes habitat development, in-situ conservation, completion of the conservation breeding centre, releasing captive-bred birds and habitat development among other things.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has approved Rs 56 crore for the next phase of the conservation of Great Indian Bustard (GIB) and Lesser Florican.

The plan includes habitat development, in-situ conservation, completion of the conservation breeding centre, releasing captive-bred birds and habitat development among other things.

Earlier in a June 7 meeting, the executive committee of the National CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority) had recommended the Wildlife Institute of India’s (WII) proposal to the governing body, multiple sources aware of developments said. Submitted in March, the WII proposal which outlines the plan to scale up the project for 2024-2033 includes two components.

The conservation programme has been running since 2016 for long-term recovery of critically endangered GIB and Lesser Florican. As of now, around 140 GIBs and fewer than 1,000 Lesser Floricans are surviving in the wild.

The first component comprises targets such as completion of the conservation breeding centre (CBC) in Jaisalmer’s Ramdevra, development of the Sorsan Lesser Florican facility, preparatory work for releasing captive-bred birds, release of GIBs in Rajasthan and other range states, post-release monitoring and artificial insemination.

The second component comprises in-situ conservation of GIBs in other range states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. This component will be implemented by WII along with state governments. The budget for this component has been pegged at Rs 43.68 crore and its approval will be sought later.