Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India

Source: The post is based on the article “Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India” published in PIB on 10th August 2022.

What is the News?

The Government of India has released an “Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India”.The aim of the plan is to restore the only large carnivore, the Cheetah, that has become extinct in independent India.

What is the “Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India”?

Released by: Ministry for Environment, Forests and Climate Change at the 19th meeting of the National Tiger Conservation Authority(NTCA)

Goal: Establish a viable cheetah metapopulation in India that allows the cheetah to perform its functional role as a top predator and provide space for the expansion of the cheetah within its historical range thereby contributing to its global conservation efforts.

What are the objectives of the Plan?

1. To establish breeding cheetah populations in safe habitats across its historical range and manage them as a metapopulation.

2. To use the cheetah as a charismatic flagship and umbrella species to garner resources for restoring open forest and savanna systems that will benefit biodiversity and ecosystem services from these ecosystems.

3. To enhance India’s capacity to sequester carbon through ecosystem restoration activities in cheetah conservation areas and thereby contribute toward the global climate change mitigation goals.

4. To use the ensuing opportunity for eco-development and ecotourism to enhance local community livelihoods.

5. To manage any conflict by cheetah or other wildlife with local communities within cheetah conservation areas expediently through compensation, awareness, and management actions to win community support.

About Cheetah Reintroduction in India

Click Here to read about it