Bird Islands: Great Indian Bustard, Landscape Conservation

The Lift Line

“Landscapes, not species, ought to be the unit of conservation.”

Why This Editorial Matters for Your Exam

The Hindu’s lead editorial of 6 October 2026 responds to the first release of captive-bred Great Indian Bustards (GIBs) into the Desert National Park (DNP), Jaisalmer, which we covered in detail in our 4 October article on Project GIB. The paper welcomes the numbers but turns the occasion into a critique of India’s whole approach to wildlife: it says conservation policy is “captive to symbolism”, building islands for flagship species instead of protecting landscapes.

For the exam, the editorial gives a ready Mains argument on species versus landscape conservation, a case study of how grasslands were neglected as “wastelands”, and a link between renewable energy and biodiversity through the power-line litigation.

GS Paper 3: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment. GS Paper 1: Distribution of key natural resources. Essay: development and ecology.

Background and Context

The bird. The Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps), known in Rajasthan as the Godawan, is one of the heaviest flying birds. It is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List and in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and it is the State bird of Rajasthan. The editorial recalls that ornithologist Salim Ali wanted it as the national bird so that protection would follow; the Indian Board for Wildlife chose the peacock instead.

The decline, in the editorial’s figures:

The programme. Project GIB, a Rajasthan programme run with the Wildlife Institute of India and the Union Environment Ministry and funded by National CAMPA, collected eggs from the wild and set up breeding centres at Sam and Ramdevra in Jaisalmer. By the Ministry’s count of 3 October 2026, the programme holds 97 birds, 57 of them bred in captivity, which have produced 29 chicks this year and 24 last year. Two male birds have now been released, with nine more awaiting release.

The courts. In 2021, in M.K. Ranjitsinh v. Union of India, the Supreme Court ordered that low-voltage power lines in the bird’s priority habitat be laid underground. Renewable energy companies and the Centre objected that the order would compromise the economics of solar power in Rajasthan and Gujarat. In March 2024, the Court recalled the blanket direction and set up an Expert Committee to decide where undergrounding was feasible, limiting the requirement to a smaller, critical area. The same judgment recognised a right against the adverse effects of climate change under Articles 14 and 21.

The Analysis

1. The numbers are real, and modest. A breeding programme with 97 birds and 29 chicks a year is notable for a species of about 120 in the wild. But captive-bred birds released into the wild have low survival in their first years, and a release of two birds is a pilot, not a recovery.

2. Many causes, one root. The editorial lists the threats in sequence: hunting, including by royalty, which reportedly continued into the late 1970s; the spread of irrigation in Rajasthan, which turned grasslands, once dismissed as “wastelands”, into irrigated, pesticide-soaked fields and roads; and, latest of all, high-tension power lines. The bustard is heavy, flies at about the height of the lines and has poor frontal vision, so it collides with them. Each threat is a land-use decision, which a breeding centre cannot reverse.

3. Renewables against wildlife. The power-line case shows a conflict between two public goods: clean energy and biodiversity. The editorial notes that the Court narrowed its order after “opprobrium from renewable energy companies”. The lesson is that green infrastructure needs its own environmental planning; solar parks are not automatically benign.

4. The birds nobody markets. The bustard’s cultural links to Rajasthan are now part of government and private marketing, the editorial says, but other birds have no such patrons. It cites about 1,256 threatened bird species, roughly 11.5 per cent of the world’s total, and declines of nearly 80 per cent in skylark numbers and 30 per cent in Indian roller numbers in 12 years. Common farmland and grassland birds fall quietly because no programme is built around them.

5. Islands and overflow. The editorial’s sharpest charge is that India’s conservation, while emphasising coexistence on paper, in practice promotes islands and “African-style reserves”. Its examples:

6. The prescription. “Landscapes, not species, ought to be the unit of conservation.” The editorial does not spell out a programme, but the logic is clear: protect habitats and the connections between them, and species, flagship and common, will follow.

Data and Institutions Vault

Prelims-grade facts:

The species:

• Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps): IUCN Critically Endangered; Schedule I, Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
• CITES Appendix I and CMS Appendix I; State bird of Rajasthan, locally called Godawan.
• Main habitat: the Desert National Park (Jaisalmer and Barmer); small numbers in Gujarat (Kutch), and historically in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

The programme:

• Project GIB: Rajasthan, with the WII and the MoEFCC, funded by National CAMPA; breeding centres at Sam and Ramdevra.
• 97 birds in captivity (as of 3 October 2026), 57 captive-bred; 29 chicks in 2026, 24 in 2025.

The law:

• M.K. Ranjitsinh v. Union of India (2021): order to put power lines in bustard habitat underground.
• Order amended in the 21 March 2024 judgment: an Expert Committee set up; a right against the adverse effects of climate change under Articles 14 and 21.

Related species and designations:

• National bird: Indian peafowl (1963). Lesser Florican and Bengal Florican: also Critically Endangered.

⚠️ Watch the trap: The GIB is Critically Endangered, not merely Endangered. And the Desert National Park is in Rajasthan; Gujarat’s bustard area at Naliya in Kutch is not a national park.

The Debate

For the editorial’s view. Every major threat to the bustard, from farm expansion to power lines, is a land-use choice. Captive breeding treats the symptom; protecting grasslands treats the cause. Grasslands also store carbon in their soils, recharge aquifers and support pastoral livelihoods, so a landscape approach serves people as well as birds. Reserves surrounded by hostile land produce conflict when animals spill out.

The other side. For a species of about 120 birds, there is no time to wait for land-use reform; a captive population is insurance against extinction. Flagship species bring money, laws and public attention that common birds never would, and the protection of their habitat benefits other species too, which is the logic of an umbrella species. Reintroductions such as Project Cheetah are also attempts to restore grassland ecosystems, not just to display animals.

The balanced verdict. The two approaches are complements, not rivals. Captive breeding is justified as an emergency measure, but it should be judged by whether released birds find secure habitat, and the bulk of effort and money should go to grassland protection, infrastructure planning and monitoring of common species.

How to Think About This

Separate the tool from the goal. Captive breeding, translocation and enclosures are tools; the goal is a self-sustaining population in a functioning ecosystem. When you evaluate any conservation programme in an answer, ask three questions: Has the original threat been removed? Is there enough connected habitat for the population to grow? Who lives alongside the animal, and do they gain or lose? A programme that answers none of these is a symbol, however good its breeding figures.

Diagram-in-Words

Takeaway Box

• Thesis: the bustard release is welcome, but India’s conservation is “captive to symbolism”; landscapes should be the unit of conservation.
• Numbers: 97 birds in the programme, 57 captive-bred, 29 chicks this year; wild population about 120; 1,260 in 1969.
• Threats: hunting, grasslands treated as “wastelands”, irrigation and pesticides, roads, power lines.
• Law: M.K. Ranjitsinh: 2021 undergrounding order, narrowed in 2024; climate right under Articles 14 and 21.
• Wider point: skylark down about 80 per cent, Indian roller 30 per cent in 12 years, by the editorial’s figures; islands overflow into conflict.

Sources: The Hindu, editorial, 6 October 2026, PIB, Ministry of Environment, 3 October 2026

Source: Bird Islands: Great Indian Bustard, Landscape Conservation — Ujiyari.com | Free UPSC & State PCS Editorial Analysis