Global Declaration for River Dolphins

Global Declaration for River Dolphins

News: Recently, 11 Asian and South American countries signed a landmark deal in Bogota, Colombia to save the world’s six surviving species of river dolphins from extinction.

About:
• The Global Declaration for River Dolphins aims to halt the decline of all river dolphin species and bolster the most vulnerable populations through concerted efforts.
• It outlines measures such as eradicating gillnets, reducing pollution, expanding research initiatives, and creating protected areas to safeguard the remaining river dolphin species.
• This initiative comes after decades of alarming population declines in river dolphins, with numbers plummeting by 73% since the 1980s due to various threats, including unsustainable fishing practices, pollution, habitat loss, and even the impact of climate change

Which countries adopted the Declaration?
• Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Peru, and Venezuela.
• There was also a representative from the regional government in Indonesia that has responsibility for the Mahakam river.

Key Facts about River Dolphins:
• River dolphins are a group of freshwater cetaceans that inhabit various river systems across Asia and South America.
• The Six Surviving River Dolphin Species include: Amazon, Ganges, Indus, Irrawaddy, Tucuxi, and the Yangtze finless porpoise.

Challenges faced
• Unsustainable fishing practices, hydropower dam construction, pollution from various industries, agriculture, and mining, as well as habitat loss.
• Recently, 150 river dolphins in the drought-stricken Lake Tefe in the Amazon died which indicate how climate change poses an increasingly severe threat to their survival

Conservation initiatives
• Raising Awareness: For example, the Uttar Pradesh Government in India has intensified its efforts to conserve the Gangetic dolphin by declaring it the aquatic animal of the state. This helps raise awareness about the need for conservation among people living on the banks of the rivers.
• World Wildlife Fund's electronic pinger project saved 80 dolphins in Indonesia's Mahakam river from gill net entanglement.
• Global Support Coalition for River Dolphins: This coalition is collaborating to secure the long-term future of river dolphins and their rivers, and the communities who depend on them.