The Honorable Prime Minister, recognizing the best interest of Asiatic lions shared the Government’s resolve and commitment to work for the long-term conservation from the ramparts of Red Fort in his speech on 74th Independence Day, announced Project Lion for securing the future of Asiatic lions in the country.
Owing to the timely protection measures taken as then Chief Minister and continued support of the Hon’ble Prime Minister, with the subsequent efforts by the Government of Gujarat and the support of the people, the Lion population is thriving with 674 individuals, as per June 2020 estimates. Currently, Asiatic Lions are present in Gir National Park and Sanctuary and its surrounds, viz. Girnar Sanctuary, Mitiyala Sanctuary, Pania Sanctuary, coastal areas, Savarkundla, Liliya, and adjoining areas of Amreli and Bhavnagar districts as satellite populations. The Asiatic Lions have moved to forested patches through conducive corridors. They are now distributed in nine districts of Saurashtra, namely Junagadh, Gir Somnath, Amreli, Bhavnagar, and Rajkot Botad, Porbandar, Jamnagar and Surendranagar, covering an expanse of ~30000 km-2 which is termed as the Asiatic Lion Landscape. Recently, Asiatic Lion have reached Barda Wildlife Sanctuary.
The distribution of Asiatic Lions constitutes (permanent distribution range = 16000 sq. km; area as per visitation record = 14000 sq. km; in total = 30000 sq. km) in the Asiatic Lion Landscape as per June 2020 estimation by Gujarat Forest Department 2020. The steady growth of the lion population in the last decades has led to the down-listing of the species from the "Critically Endangered" in the 1990s to the "Endangered" category in 2008 by the IUCN Red List.
Launch program of Project Lion by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India will be organized soon. In the launch program, a logo for the Project Lion will be revealed.
The broad objectives of the project are:
1.To conserve & restore lions’ habitats for managing its growing population.
2.Scale up livelihood generation and participation of local communities.
3.Become a global hub of knowledge on big cat disease diagnostics and treatment.
4.Inclusive biodiversity conservation through project lion initiative
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is seeking a logo design for Project Lion. The logo should have an attractive design depicting the Project Lion.
Rewards:
Winner will get sponsored tour (with two night stay) to Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary.
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