Gautam Buddh Nagar district has no database of its wildlife
Though the region is home to over a hundred species of birds and mammals, the forest division of Gautam Buddh Nagar district has no database of its wildlife. The most astonishing fact is that the department was created 20 years ago and it is mandatory to conduct survey for counting of wildlife after every two years, the official of the unit is unaware of its responsibility. Environmentalists claim that the region was natural habitat of over 320 species of birds and 10 species of mammals earlier but the authorities have no idea that up to what extent their numbers have decreased. They fear that numbers of species are decreasing due to urbanisation but authorities are not making effort to protect.
“To initiate conservation scheme, the authority must have adequate data. Surprisingly, the forest division is unaware of the fact that it is their job to undertake a survey and make proper record of their count,” said a wildlife enthusiast of the Noida.
Environment activists of the area claims that massive urbanisation and use of pesticides have decreased not only number of birds and animals but have decreased number of species also. Talking about importance of survey, activists say that the move will not only provide actual data but will help in finding actual position of biodiversity. It will also reveal exact position of critically endangered (CG) species, vulnerable species, near threatened (NT) species and migratory species. “Once data will be available, we could initiate process to save types of animals and birds which are on verge of collapse. It will help in maintaining biodiversity status of the region. We have written authorities several times in this regard but no effort has been made yet,” said Abhishek Kumar, member of Society for Protection of Environment and Biodiversity, an NGO.
When contacted forest officials for baseline data, they said that they have not conducted survey and counting. “We do not have the actual data. It is not the Forest Department but Asian Bird Societies counts only birds by conducting surveys on regular intervals. If any such move will be taken, it will be announced properly,” said KK Singh, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Gautam Buddh Nagar.