WWF global conservation conference: Bhupender Yadav calls for community-led wildlife protection
Jaipur: Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav on Monday called for stronger global cooperation on wildlife conservation, stressing the need to involve local communities in protecting ecosystems and promoting coexistence.
Yadav was speaking after inaugurating the WWF Global Conservation Conference in Jaipur, attended by representatives from more than 100 countries.
Highlighting India’s conservation efforts, Yadav said the country’s protected areas had increased from around 750 to more than 1,000 over the past decade. During the same period, tiger reserves increased from 47 to 58, elephant reserves from 30 to 33, and Ramsar sites from 24 to 101.
He also highlighted India’s cheetah reintroduction programme as an example of species conservation efforts.
Yadav said India’s commitment to wildlife protection was both constitutional and cultural. The Constitution places responsibilities on the state as well as citizens to protect the environment and wildlife, he said.
He pointed to India’s participation in international frameworks including CITES, CMS, CBD and the Ramsar Convention, while citing conservation efforts involving tigers, elephants, rhinos and Asiatic lions.
The minister also highlighted scientific monitoring and nationwide population assessments of species such as tigers, elephants, dolphins, lions and snow leopards, saying the data helps authorities improve habitats, protect wildlife corridors and adopt landscape-level conservation strategies.
Yadav highlighted conservation breeding efforts for the Great Indian Bustard in Rajasthan and community-led protection of sacred groves known as Orans, which also contribute to efforts to combat land degradation.
He stressed that grasslands, wetlands and woodlands all require conservation attention, and referred to ongoing programmes for the one-horned rhinoceros and wild water buffalo.
Calling for greater international collaboration, Yadav urged conservationists to learn from successful initiatives and translate them into sustained action, with communities playing a central role in conservation and coexistence.
