Recent findings by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) show that at least 10 Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs), including the Flamingo City in Gujarat’s Kutch region, Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary at Solapur-Ahmednagar in Maharashtra, Karera Wildlife Sanctuary in MP and the one at Ranebennur in Karnataka, are in serious danger of being lost forever.
The BNHS working with UK-based Birdlife International (a global conservation organisation) has come out with these shocking findings in its new report titled “Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas: “A Global Network for Conserving Nature and Benefiting People”.
The report has been launched by the Birdlife International at the ongoing World Parks Congress in Sydney, Australia. “IBAs in Danger” is the latest research by Birdlife International and its country partners such as BNHS.Apart from Flamingo City at Kutch in Gujarat, the Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary at Solapur-Ahmednagar in Maharashtra, Karera Wildlife Sanctuary at Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh and the one at Ranebennur in Haveri in Karnataka, the other IBAs --as they are now called globally – are: Sewri-Mahul Creek, Mumbai, Sailana Kharmor Sanctuary, Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh, Tillangchong, Andaman-Nicobar, Dihaila Jheel, Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh, Basai, Gurgaon, Haryana and Sardarpur Florican Sanctuary, Dhar, Madhya Pradesh.
“Our studies and monitoring across India have shown that the following IBAs are among the most threatened habitats in the country. These are areas that cover habitats such as coastal and inland wetlands, grasslands and forests, which are at the greatest risk of losing their key biodiversity,” a BNHS spokesperson Atul Sathe said here on Saturday.
Sathe also pointed out that many other IBAs, although not on this list, were also threatened by various types of unsustainable human interference. “Most of these IBAs also provide for ecosystem services such as water supply for drinking and agriculture, tourism potential and natural pest control, if managed sustainably,” he said.
The BNHS studies cited the following major reasons behind the loss of biodiversity and habitat in these and other areas: destruction/disturbance due to infrastructure development, wrong anti-people conservation policies, indiscriminate livestock grazing beyond traditional pastoral lands, industrial and sewage pollution, indiscriminate agricultural expansion including use of pesticides, rapid urbanization and poaching.
Dwelling upon the issue, Dr Raju Kasambe, Project Manager, IBA Programme, BNHS, said: “Unfortunately in India, nearly 50 per cent of the IBAs are not getting any sort official recognition from the government agencies. These are the areas which need utmost and urgent protection, if we are really serious about saving the threatened species of birds in India. Our future generations will never pardon us for destroying the important habitats of birds in such a callous manner”.
The IBAs are places of international significance for the conservation of the world’s birds and other biodiversity.Currently, 356 of the total 12,000 IBAs are in danger across 122 countries and territories. About half of these are legally protected.
Melanie Heath, Birdlife’s Director of Science, Policy and Information said: “Collectively we must work together to mitigate these threats, strengthen the implementation of national and local laws and policies, ensuring that environmental safeguards are implemented at the earliest stages of development, as well as enhancing the management of these sites”. Conservation of IBAs will directly help in tackling problems such as habitat loss, ensuring sustainable resource use and controlling climate change.