Bird islands: On India’s bustard conservation programme

Published 2026-10-09 · Updated 2026-10-09 · 3 min · 619 words

UPSC CSE Context

Why in News

Two captive-bred Great Indian Bustards were released into the wild at Desert National Park, Jaisalmer, marking progress in the conservation breeding programme.

Syllabus Connection

Environment and Ecology: Conservation, biodiversity, species protection, and related legal and policy frameworks.

Exam Relevance

High relevance for UPSC CSE Prelims and Mains due to focus on endangered species conservation, human-wildlife conflict, and critique of current conservation approaches.

Core Issue

India's conservation approach is species-centric and symbolic, neglecting landscape-level habitat protection.

Key Development

Release of two captive-bred Great Indian Bustards highlights success of breeding programme but underscores broader conservation challenges.

Stakeholders

• Government of India
• Rajasthan Government
• Renewable energy companies
• Local communities
• Conservationists

Static Knowledge

High-Value Background

• Great Indian Bustard is critically endangered, with population around 120, primarily in Rajasthan.
• The species faces threats from habitat loss, power lines, and historical hunting.

Exam Linkage

• Useful for questions on endangered species conservation, wildlife protection laws, and conflict between development and conservation.

Concepts in Context

• Captive breeding and reintroduction are ex-situ conservation methods.
• Landscape-level conservation focuses on preserving entire ecosystems rather than single species.

Institutions and Mechanisms

• Desert National Park, Jaisalmer, is a protected area for bustard conservation.
• Supreme Court orders on undergrounding power lines in critical habitats.

Dynamic Analysis

Environment and Ecology

• Captive breeding success may not translate to wild survival due to habitat degradation and power line threats.
• Focus on charismatic species like bustard diverts attention from declining common birds like skylarks and rollers.
• Grassland ecosystems are undervalued and often converted to agriculture or infrastructure.
• Power line mitigation remains incomplete, leaving bustards vulnerable to collisions.

Governance and Policy

• Conservation policy is driven by symbolism and political visibility rather than ecological science.
• Legal interventions like Supreme Court orders face pushback from economic interests, leading to diluted implementation.
• Lack of integrated land-use planning results in habitat fragmentation and human-wildlife conflict.
• Government marketing of 'Godawan' cultural links does not translate into effective habitat protection.

Economy and Development

• Renewable energy expansion conflicts with bustard conservation due to power line risks.
• Undergrounding power lines increases costs, affecting solar project viability.
• Irrigation expansion in Rajasthan has converted bustard habitat into farmland, reducing available range.
• Ecotourism potential of bustard remains unrealized due to low population and habitat loss.

Society and Culture

• Cultural significance of 'Godawan' is used for marketing but not for grassroots conservation.
• Human-wildlife conflict examples (elephants, lions) show need for coexistence strategies.
• Top-down conservation approaches alienate local stakeholders and undermine long-term success.

Prelims Takeaways

• Great Indian Bustard is listed as Critically Endangered on IUCN Red List.
• Desert National Park is located in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.

Mains Value Addition

Arguments

• Species-centric conservation fails to address ecosystem-level threats and may lead to 'island' populations.
• Legal protections are often weakened under economic pressure, as seen in Supreme Court order modification.
• Captive breeding alone cannot compensate for habitat loss and mortality from infrastructure.
• Conservation success requires integrating local community needs and landscape-level planning.

Examples

• Great Indian Bustard conservation breeding programme with 97 birds in captivity.
• Decline of skylark (80%) and Indian roller (30%) indicates broader biodiversity loss.

Data Points

• Great Indian Bustard population: around 120 individuals.
• 1,256 bird species (11.5% of world total) are classified as threatened.

Counterpoints

• Captive breeding has increased bustard numbers, showing potential for recovery.
• Renewable energy is crucial for climate goals, and undergrounding lines may be economically unviable.
• Some protected areas have successfully conserved species, but they may not be scalable.

Way Forward

• Adopt landscape-level conservation approach integrating protected areas with surrounding land uses.
• Promote community-based conservation with benefit-sharing mechanisms to reduce conflict.
• Strengthen implementation of power line mitigation measures in critical bustard habitats.
• Increase funding for research on bustard ecology and grassland restoration.
• Develop policy coherence between renewable energy targets and biodiversity conservation.

Primary/reference source: thehindu.com