'Most of India's bird hot spots not protected'

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">MUMBAI: Almost half the country''s important bird habitats are not protected, according to a new book put together by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), in collaboration with Indian Bird Conservation Network, Birdlife International and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, UK.<br /><br /><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Important Bird Areas in India</span> lists 465 sites in the country considered vital for bird conservation.These areas are important for a variety of reasons—not only do they host threatened species or species which are not found anywhere else (like the Jerdon''s Courser in southern Andhra Pradesh), but are home to large numbers of birds (like the flamingoes at Sewree).<br /><br />But 199 of these sites do not have any protected-area status, including many ornithological hotspots in the Western Ghats and eastern and western Himalayas.<br /><br />Conservationists hope to correct this by bringing these areas to the notice of the public and the powers that be. "This kind of documentation has never been done before in India," says BNHS head Asad Rahmani, echoing some others who see this 1,150-page tome with 600 maps as the most important book on Indian birds after Salim Ali''s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Birds of India</span>.<br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal"><br />"The agenda of the book is to get these areas of biodiversity protected," agrees Alistair Campbell of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds which funded the project, and which has been involved in similar initiatives in other parts of the world.<br /><br />He emphasises that the listing has been done by scientific global criteria.<br /><br />"Governments and industry can no longer plead ignorance while destroying an important ecological site because now there is a practical guide, based on sound science, which will help any planner to decide the location of projects," he adds.<br /><br />In fact, the <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Important Bird Areas book of Europe</span>—which was brought out over a decade ago—has been used by courts to decide the validity of location of new factories and industrial projects.<br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section3"><div class="Normal"><br />But adherence to sound science has meant that five years have gone into the making of the book. Over a thousand bird watchers from across the country volunteered their services— the book''s acknowledgements run into seven pages.<br /><br />Many amateurs brought in unknown, overlooked areas, says Zafar-ul Aslam, who managed the project.<br /><br />This, however, is not the last word on bird habitats in India.<br /><br />"We expect that in another ten years, many more areas will be added to the list," says Campbell.<br /><br />"It''s not the last word but it''s a first, enormously important first word."</div> </div>