birds in our lives (2007 presentation, updated 2014)

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight!

chikikothari@gmail.com

BIRDS IN OUR LIVES

Ashish Kothari

One of the world’s most biodiverse regions….

1300+ species…

14% of world’s diversity, on 4% of its land surface…

176 endemic species

Why such diversity?

• Elements of 3 of world’s biogeographic regions: Oriental, Palaearctic, Afrotropical

• Habitat, Climatic Diversity

Terrestrial ecosystems…. deserts

Terrestrial ecosystems…. grasslands

Terrestrial ecosystems…forests

Terrestrial ecosystems…forests*

Terrestrial ecosystems…mountains

Aquatic ecosystems….freshwater

Aquatic ecosystems….freshwater

Aquatic ecosystems….marine

Human-dominated ecosystems

Urban wildlife….*

Birds in Culture

literature

sculpture

dance

musiclanguage

art

Tribal, folk cultures….

Panchatantra, Jataka tales….*

Warli, Pithoda motifs

Religious systems…

Hoopoe as messenger of Prophet Solomon….Holy Quran

Peacock as mount of god of war Kartikeya, vahana of goddess of learning Saraswati…

Art, sculpture…

Mansur, C. 17/18th

Gond, Bastar

Sanchi, MP

Birds in economy

“birds can flourish without humans, but humans cannot survive without birds”

(Salim Ali)

Birds can be harmful…

Crop damage, disease (avian flu?), bird strikes…

But the benefits far outweigh these….

Pest control

2 rats a night….

A pair of titmice in a year, eat 120 million insect eggs, or 150,000 caterpillars/pupae*

Regeneration of valuable plants

Sandalwood, Ficus (fig), Silk cotton, Mulberry, Coral tree……..

Garbage/waste management

How do we know all this?

Ornithology through the ages….

Ancient ornithology

Community observations

Classical texts, e.g. Chandogya Upanishad, 8-fold categorisation of birds

Rulers through the ages….e.g. Jehangir….”would have been happier as the head of a natural history museum…” (Salim Ali)

Homa Seb, Naga elder

Modern ornithology

19th century beginnings….Gould, Franklin, Sykes, Tickell, Hutton, Jerdon, Blyth

Alan Octavian Hume20th century consolidation

Modern ornithology contd…

Thousands of professionals, amateurs, NGOs, institutions….dozens of field guides….explosion of inventories, e-discussions, newsletters, workshops….

An ill wind blows….

Threats to Indian birds

Hunting, trade…

1970-76: 13 million birds exported!

450 species in trade before 1991 ban

370 species still illegally traded!

Habitat destruction

Habitat destruction contd…

>50% forests destroyed

>60% wetlands drained or polluted

>40% mangroves wiped out

Globalisation….10-fold increase in annual clearance of projects

Toxins…

Pesticides….

Diclofenac and other pain-killers…

Threatened species

1979 1988 2005 2014

17 47 140 170

Already extinct…*

Rediscovered…

Want fame? Claim to have rediscovered a bird….

Rory Nugent, adventurer, 1988 (after 29 days of paddling his canoe on India-

China-Myanmar border, saw): “one of the fabled ducks among the multitude. As if

to confirm that I had just seen one of the most elusive animals in nature, the jungle rimming the banks came alive. Monkeys shrieked, big cats roared, and land birds hooted. I lay back in the

boat, a smile on my face, finally satisfied that the pink-headed duck was there, to be found for

anyone willing to search for it.”

Seriously endangered…

1880s 1965 1984-85

1992-2000

Post-2002

2000 200 41 5, 4, 2 0

The winds of change…

Conservation action*

Traditional protection

Kokkare Bellur, Karnataka

Kheechan, Rajasthan

Modern legal protection

1972 1986 2003

18 + hawks 49 + hawks 58 + hawks

Species in Schedule 1 of Wild Life Act (completely protected across India)

Ban on all trade in Indian species: 1991

Formal protected areas

Chilika, Orissa

Corbett, Uttarakhand

Lankamalai,

Andhra Pradesh

Neglect of social

aspects….

Backfires on conservation

itself…

Periyar National Park, Kerala Community dialogues, livelihood benefits, community-

based ecotourism

New community conserved areas

Khonoma Tragopan Sanctuary, Nagaland

Mangalajodi, Orissa

Citizens’ action

Important Bird Areas (>460 sites)

Indian Bird Conservation Network

International action

Convention on Trade in Endangered Species

Migratory species convention (Bonn)

Wetlands convention (Ramsar)….25 sites by 2005

New research paradigms…

Liocichla bugunorum

What is needed…• Partnerships and collaboration amongst govt,

NGOs, local communities• Paradigm shifts in conservation research and

action….protected area management….site-specific, participatory, integrating traditional and modern knowledge

• Recognition to community conservation initiatives • Bringing the ethics and imperatives of conservation

centre-stage in development priorities

• CITIZENS’ ACTION!

Thanks to….Organisers of NatureQuest

Publishers: Universities Press / Orient Longman

Pix: Ramana Athreya, Pallava Bagla, Rajat Bhargava, Bharat Bhushan, Ashok Captain, Raghu Chundawat, Ajay Desai, Clement Francis, R.K. Gaur, Joanna van Gruisen, Jean Howman-WPA, Girish Jathar, Ashish Kothari, Sujatha Padmanabhan, Vibhu Prakash, Asad Rahmani, Nitin Rai, Vijay Mohan Raj, Sunita Rao, Ravi Sankaran, Pankaj Sekhsaria, Krupakar Senani, Rajpal Singh, Farhad Vania, Mahendra Vyas, Shimpei Watanabe

Illustrations: Madhuvanthi Anantharajan, Bindia Thapar

Hope you enjoyed the flight!

chikikothari@gmail.com

Based on the book ‘Birds in Our Lives’ (Orient Blackswan, 2007) by Ashish Kothari