Great Indian Bustard, Asian Elephant, Bengal Florican classified as ‘endangered migratory species’, will get global protection

Great Indian Bustard, Asian Elephant and Bengal Florican have been classified as “endangered migratory species” by a UN body, paving the way for trans-boundary conservation efforts.

India’s proposal for inclusion of the three species in the global list for international protection under the UN’s Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species was accepted unanimously on Thursday.
The proposal was accepted by 130 countries that are party to the convention at the ongoing 13th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS COP 13).
The proposal was accepted by 130 countries that are party to the convention at the ongoing 13th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS COP 13).

Migratory species threatened with extinction are listed on Appendix I of the Convention for which CMS Parties strive towards strictly protecting them, conserving and restoring the places where they live, mitigating obstacles to migration and controlling other factors that might endanger them.

The Great Indian Bustard, an iconic, critically endangered and conservation dependent species, exhibits transboundary movements and its migration exposes it to threats such as hunting in boundary area of Pakistan-India and power-line collisions in India.

“Inclusion of the species in Appendix I of CMS will aide in transboundary conservation efforts facilitated by international conservation bodies and existing international laws and agreement,” an Environment Ministry official said.
Pakistan is among the 130 countries party to the Convention. India has declared Indian elephant as National Heritage Animal which is also provided the highest degree of legal protection by listing it in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.