Global convention on migratory species to be held in Gandhinagar

Ahmedabad: The thirteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP13) together with the associated meetings of the standing committee will be held in Gandhinagar, at the invitation of the government of India from February 17 to 22, 2020.

Apart from discussing other migratory and endangered species, the meeting for the first time till hold discussion on the Asian elephant and the great Indian bustard. The GIB is found only in Rajasthan, Gujarat and neigbouring regions of Pakistan.

This is the first time that India will be hosting the international conference and Gujarat has been given preference as the host state. Nityanand Srivastava who is the nodal officer of the conference said that the conference is being held by CMS Cop13 and Union ministry of environment and forest. The conference will be attended by over 1,500 delegates including representatives of national governments, international organisations, scientists, conservation groups and other wildlife experts.

According to MoEF officials, a proposal for CMS Appendix I (for endangered species) will include the Asian elephant, the great Indian bustard, the Bengal florican, the antipodean albatross, and the oceanic white-tip shark.

The document of the meeting available on the website states that India has sought inclusion of the Asian elephant on the global list of endangered species, and for providing the strictest protections as they frequently come into conflict with people.

Officials here said that issues like light pollution guidelines for wildlife including marine turtles, seabirds and migratory shorebirds will be discussed. The delegates will also discuss topics like renewable energy and migratory species, and power lines and migratory birds among other issues. It is worth recalling that several GIB in the state died after coming in contact with the high-tension lines in Kutch.

The conference will discuss the GIB for the first time in its 13 meetings so far. Currently, the most important threat to the GIB is fatal collision with power lines and has resulted in at least 12 recorded bird deaths in the last 15 years, and five recorded deaths in Rajasthan during the last 1-2 years.

Based on the importance, power-line collision (high), nest predation by native predators (fox, mongoose, crow, monitor lizard) and free-ranging dogs, hunting in Pakistan, agricultural expansion, pesticide prevalence (food reduction and contamination), grazing pressure, plantation of shrub and tree species in grasslands, poor land-use policies (Protected area based approach without landscape level conservation planning) are the major threats to the GIB, the website on CMS Cop13 states.