Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav Leads Wildlife Conservation Drives

Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav chaired significant inter-ministerial meetings focused on wildlife conservation, particularly addressing tiger population management and Great Indian Bustard (GIB) recovery programmes. Key decisions involved formulating national frameworks for these endangered species despite concurrent administrative challenges.

Background: India hosts 70% of world's tiger population (~3,700 tigers as per 2022 census); however, human-wildlife conflict continues. Great Indian Bustard faces extreme endangerment (fewer than 150 individuals remain). Both species require coordinated central-state action and substantial resource allocation.

Key Initiatives: (1) Tiger conservation framework expansion (Project Tiger); (2) Great Indian Bustard recovery programme intensification; (3) Inter-ministerial coordination mechanisms; (4) State government alignment; (5) Research and monitoring protocols.

Conservation Context: (1) Tiger habitat loss due to linear infrastructure (roads, railways); (2) GIB threatened by power transmission lines, agriculture intensification; (3) Compensation mechanism for livestock depredation; (4) Community participation necessity; (5) Climate change impacts on habitat.

Policy Framework: National Wildlife Action Plan, Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act, Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Recent SC judgments on wildlife corridors (Gajraj Foundation case) inform policy.

Why it Matters: Biodiversity conservation; ecological balance; India's international commitments (CBD, CITES); addressing human-wildlife conflict; livelihood impacts on tribals and forest-dependent communities.

Exam Angle: UPSC Mains (Wildlife conservation, environmental policy, federalism), Prelims (endangered species, conservation programmes). Connect with: Project Tiger, Project Great Bustard, biodiversity policy, SC wildlife judgments.