National Wildlife Conservation Programmes India focus on protecting tigers, dolphins, sloth bears, gharials, and mitigating human-wildlife conflicts through innovative 2025 projects and scientific conservation strategies.
India Strengthens Wildlife Protection: New National Conservation Programmes
Introduction
India recently reaffirmed its commitment to protecting its rich biodiversity by launching a suite of national-level conservation projects targeting iconic and endangered species — from tigers and bears to dolphins and gharials. The initiatives, unveiled during the 2025 Wildlife Week, bring fresh momentum to existing efforts and spotlight the government’s dual aim: conserving wildlife and minimizing human-wildlife conflict.
What’s New: Five Major Projects Launched in 2025
On October 5–6, 2025, as part of Wildlife Week celebrations, the government underlined its conservation push by launching five national-level conservation and conflict-management projects.
- Project Dolphin (Phase-II) — A renewed and expanded effort to conserve India’s riverine and marine dolphins, including habitat restoration, monitoring, rescue and rehabilitation, and community awareness.
- Project Sloth Bear — A dedicated national framework aimed at protecting sloth bear populations, safeguarding habitats, mitigating human–bear conflicts and enabling coexistence through science-based conservation and community engagement.
- Project Gharial — A revival attempt for the critically endangered gharial, focusing on preserving riverine ecosystems, strengthening population monitoring, breeding and community-based habitat protection.
- Centre of Excellence for Human–Wildlife Conflict Management (CoE-HWC) at Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) — A specialized national centre to coordinate research, policy development, and field-level mitigation strategies for human-wildlife conflict, emphasizing coexistence rather than conflict.
- Tigers Outside Tiger Reserves (TOTR) Initiative — Recognizing that a significant number of tigers now live outside protected reserves, this landscape-level effort aims to monitor tiger movement, reduce conflict, deploy rapid response teams, leverage technology (camera traps, AI, M-STRIPES), and engage local communities
Alongside these, authorities also unveiled four national-level action plans and field-guides for periodic population estimation of species such as river dolphins, tigers, snow leopards, and endangered birds including the Great Indian Bustard and Lesser Florican.
The Broader Conservation Landscape in India
These new initiatives complement long-standing wildlife programs in India. For example:
- Project Tiger, launched in 1973, remains the backbone of tiger conservation; as of March 2025 India has 58 designated tiger reserves, covering over 82,800 sq. km.
- Project Elephant, started in 1992, continues to protect elephants, their migratory corridors and mitigate human-elephant conflict.
- India also has older crocodile and gharial-conservation efforts under broader crocodile/crocodilian protection schemes — the new Project Gharial seeks to reinvigorate such efforts with updated strategies.
Thus, the 2025 wave of launches does not replace older programmes — it augments them, especially in light of new ecological challenges, increasing human-wildlife interface, and changing habitats.
Focus on Human–Wildlife Coexistence & Scientific Approach
A defining feature of the latest push is the emphasis on coexistence. Through CoE-HWC and landscape-level interventions like TOTR, the government aims not only to protect species but to reduce conflicts with people. There is also a stronger tilt towards scientific conservation — using modern tools for monitoring, relying on population estimation cycles, and involving communities in habitat protection and rescue efforts.
Why This News is Important
Significance for Biodiversity & India’s Global Role
India is home to a large share of the world’s biodiversity, including about 75% of the global wild tiger population. The launch of these new national projects reaffirms India’s commitment to global wildlife conservation goals. It also signals to the world that India is intensifying protection for not only flagship species like tigers and elephants, but also lesser-known yet ecologically significant species like dolphins, gharials, and sloth bears.
Relevance for Government Exam Aspirants (GS Papers & Current Affairs)
For students preparing for exams like civil services, banking, railways, SSC, teaching, defence, or police — environment and ecology are increasingly important topics under General Studies. Knowing about these recently launched conservation programmes, their objectives, and strategic significance gives you direct material for:
- Questions on wildlife conservation efforts in India
- Biodiversity and ecosystem topics under GS-3 (Environment)
- Human-wildlife conflict management — a current socio-ecological issue
Reflects Policy Evolution: From Protection to Coexistence
The news shows a paradigm shift: from only protecting wildlife in reserves to a more holistic — and realistic — model that recognises wildlife movements beyond sanctuaries, human dependencies around forests, and the need for community involvement. This makes conservation policy more inclusive and adaptive — a key point to note for policy-oriented essays, interviews, and analysis.
Historical Context
Early Conservation Efforts: Project Tiger and More
India’s organized wildlife conservation began in earnest with Project Tiger in 1973, initiated to protect the endangered Bengal tiger and its habitat. The project led to the creation of dedicated tiger reserves, strict monitoring systems, anti-poaching patrols, and ecological management under the oversight of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
As decades passed, other major initiatives followed — for elephants, crocodiles, and a variety of endangered species — under broader conservation and habitat-protection efforts.
Emerging Challenges: Habitat Loss, Human-Wildlife Conflict, Species Beyond Reserves
With changing land use, expanding human settlements, development projects, and decreasing forest cover, wildlife began to increasingly venture outside protected zones. At the same time, human-wildlife conflict — crop raids, attacks on livestock, and retaliatory killings — became more frequent. Conservationists also warned that focusing only on flagship species was insufficient to preserve ecosystem balance.
This context motivated a shift towards more inclusive, landscape-level and species-diverse conservation approaches.
2025: A New Conservation Push
Recognizing these challenges, in October 2025 during Wildlife Week, the government launched five focussed projects — broadening the conservation net to include river dolphins, sloth bears, gharials, and tigers living outside reserves. At the same time, institutional mechanisms — like the Centre of Excellence for Human–Wildlife Conflict Management — and scientific population-monitoring programmes were launched to ensure ongoing, data-driven conservation.
This marks an evolution from older conservation strategies — from “protect sanctuary” to “protect species + their habitats + human coexistence” across landscapes.
Key Takeaways from This News
| # | Key Takeaway |
|---|---|
| 1 | In October 2025, the Government of India launched five major national conservation projects: Project Dolphin (Phase-II), Project Sloth Bear, Project Gharial, Centre of Excellence for Human-Wildlife Conflict Management (CoE-HWC) at SACON, and Tigers Outside Tiger Reserves (TOTR). |
| 2 | These projects expand conservation focus beyond flagship species like tigers and elephants — incorporating dolphins, sloth bears, gharials — thereby embracing ecosystem-wide preservation. |
| 3 | The TOTR initiative addresses the growing presence of tigers outside protected reserves, aiming to reduce human-tiger conflict through technology, rapid response teams, and community engagement. |
| 4 | The establishment of CoE-HWC reflects a shift toward research-based, policy-oriented, community-driven strategies for managing human-wildlife conflict, highlighting coexistence over exclusion. |
| 5 | The new initiatives reinforce India’s position as a global biodiversity custodian — addressing challenges like habitat loss, increasing human-wildlife interface and ensuring long-term species conservation and environmental security. |
FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. What are the five major conservation projects launched in India in 2025?
A1. Project Dolphin (Phase-II), Project Sloth Bear, Project Gharial, Centre of Excellence for Human–Wildlife Conflict Management (CoE-HWC) at SACON, and Tigers Outside Tiger Reserves (TOTR).
Q2. What is the primary aim of Project Dolphin (Phase-II)?
A2. To conserve riverine and marine dolphins, restore habitats, implement rescue and rehabilitation programs, and increase community awareness.
Q3. Why was the Centre of Excellence for Human–Wildlife Conflict Management (CoE-HWC) established?
A3. To research, develop policies, and implement strategies to manage human–wildlife conflicts through scientific methods and community involvement.
Q4. What is the significance of the Tigers Outside Tiger Reserves (TOTR) initiative?
A4. It monitors tiger populations outside protected areas, reduces human-tiger conflicts, and ensures landscape-level conservation.
Q5. How do these initiatives help in exam preparation for government exams?
A5. They provide essential knowledge on wildlife conservation, biodiversity, human-wildlife conflict, flagship species, and government schemes, which are important topics under General Studies (GS Papers) for exams like UPSC, SSC, Banking, Railways, and Defence.
Q6. Which species is targeted under Project Gharial?
A6. The critically endangered gharial, a riverine crocodile species.
Q7. How does Project Sloth Bear benefit local communities?
A7. By reducing human-bear conflict, safeguarding habitats, and promoting coexistence through awareness and community engagement.
Some Important Current Affairs Links
