birds in our lives (2007 presentation, updated 2014)
TRANSCRIPT
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!
Based on the book ‘Birds in Our Lives’ (Orient Blackswan, 2007) by Ashish Kothari