The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has chalked out a project to develop a conservation action plan for the Gangetic River Dolphin to save the national aquatic animal from extinction.
"The project is aimed at ensuring a recovery plan of the Gangetic River Dolphin and their habitat in the country and engage stakeholders in conservation of river ecosystems," WII Director Dr V B Mathur said here today.
The project would develop monitoring protocols for River Dolphins and river fauna, quality assessment of river habitat and assessment of invasive species and involve stakeholders in River Dolphin and associated aquatic animal conservation.
The project with a duration of five years would be carried out in partnership with respective state forest departments, national and state academic institutions and NGOs, Mathur said.
The first stakeholders meet was held here yesterday to chalk out an agenda to take forward the project for conservation of dolphins, which has been declared globally endangered due to rapid rate of their population decline and habitat reduction and in India it is in the highest legal protection status in Schedule-I of the Wildlife Protection Act.
Mathur pointed out that the project was part of the Endangered Species Recovery Plans (ESRP) of four endangered species - Great Indian Bustard, Dugong, Manipur Deer (Sangai) and the Gangetic Dolphin initiated by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
It was funded under the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Advisory Council (NCAC).
"The goal of the ESRP is to maximise the long-term survival of species in the wild through a planned and logical framework to be implemented through multi-stakeholder partnerships in which local communities play a key role," he said.
Besides Assam, which has a sizable dolphin population
of more than 800 as per a 2012 survey, the project area include Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Arunachal Pradesh.
The project would develop a holistic conservation approach through key scientific and technological inputs and participation of multiple stakeholders, WII Principal Scientist Qamar Quereshi said.
"At a time when pressure on the rivers is increasing, the project is a timely intervention for conservation of the species and as the Gangetic Dolphin is a flagship species, many other aquatic species will also benefit from its conservation," he said.
The Brahmaputra and associated rivers have a high conservation value for dolphins as well as several other endangered aquatic species, WII Project Scientist Abdul Wakid said.
"Rivers in North East India still represent high quality river habitat, but are under increasing pressure from development activities and we need to evolve mitigation measures for the conservation of these species," he said.
The Gangetic River Dolphin is found in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli River system of India, Nepal and Bangladesh.
It was declared the National Aquatic Animal in 2009 and Assam declared it the state aquatic animal in 2008, while Guwahati city adopted it as its mascot in June 2016.
