BNHS working on saving GIBs

In a major to bid to save the Great Indian Bustard from extinction, the Mumbai-headquartered Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) is working on a model to preserve grasslands and protect these birds in the Non-Protected Areas of the Thar Desert in Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.

The GIBs are  a critically endangered bird native to the Indian sub-continent. 

Only about 100 of these birds exist, most surviving in the Thar desert of Rajasthan. 

In addition, there are estimated to be 6-7 birds in Gujarat, 2-3 in Maharashtra, 10 in Karnataka, and 3-4 in Andhra Pradesh. 

It is no longer present in about 90 per cent of its former range. To help protect the GIB, BNHS launched a program in the Thar Desert, Jaisalmer to conduct landscape-level research and garner local support. 

The BNHS, in its annual report for 2022-23 has elaborated on the efforts initiated by it. 

“We have to pull the species out of extinction,” said Kishor Rithe, Director, BNHS. 

The initiative in Rajasthan is being carried out by a team led by Sujit Narwade, Assistant Director, BNHS.

“We are working on a model to preserve grasslands and protect the GIB in the Non-Protected Areas of the Thar Desert in Jaisalmer. We aim to secure the remaining habitat patches by fencing off a 35-hectare area. To achieve this, we seek support from the local community and will use chain-linked fencing. An intensive survey was conducted in Pokhran tehsil, we have identified some areas intensively used by the GIB from late monsoon till early summer, comprising a mosaic of fallow and privately owned farmlands and revenue land,” the BNHS report states. 

The BNHS is seeking assistance from the local community to preserve the GIB in areas outside of protected zones in Rajasthan that humans dominate. 

“The aim is to address current threats, particularly those related to land use changes and the energy sector, to safeguard the current population of GIB,” it states.

To create an avian sensitivity map, surveys were conducted at the landscape level to assess the GIB  and associated desert species and overlap their distribution with current and upcoming renewable energy projects in the Thar Desert. Additionally, the project collaborated with the Indian Army and Border Security Force (BSF) to study and safeguard bustards in areas that fall under their jurisdiction.