Chandigarh: India’s efforts to pull its vulture population back from the brink of collapse require sustained scientific intervention and coordinated action by govts, conservation agencies and local communities, Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav said on Sunday.Addressing a national-level workshop – From Crisis to Recovery – Conserving India’s Vultures – in Panchkula to mark International Vulture Awareness Day, Yadav stressed the need to strengthen measures aimed at protecting threatened vulture species and their habitats.The workshop brought together senior officials from the Centre and Haryana, scientists, veterinarians, forest officials, zoo professionals and conservation practitioners. Discussions focused on safe veterinary practices, Vulture Safe Zones, conservation breeding, habitat protection and mitigation of human-induced threats.The participants noted that India’s vulture crisis of the 1990s and 2000s demonstrated the consequences of ecological disruption, while subsequent conservation initiatives showed the importance of combining science, policy and institutional coordination.Haryana environment and forest minister Rao Ranbir Singh presided over the workshop. Senior officials, including K C Meena, the principal chief conservator of forests (head of the forest force); chief wildlife warden Navdeep Singh; and senior officials of the Union environment ministry, were also present.Yadav later visited the Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre at Pinjore, where he reviewed the conservation-breeding programme and was briefed on ongoing efforts to strengthen vulture recovery.He also interacted with officials and conservation professionals and participated in a podcast on vulture conservation.The workshop called for a “whole-of-govt and whole-of-society” approach involving govt departments, scientific institutions, zoos, veterinarians, conservation organisations and communities.Officials said sustained field-level conservation and the creation of safe landscapes would be crucial to rebuilding wild vulture populations, which play a key role in maintaining ecosystem health.
