Thursday, 29 October 2015

Birding paradise in Uttarakhand

Conservation of bird needs a lot more effort than just merely projecting them as a visual treat for the tourists. Uttarakhand government has been making planning to promote the state as ‘birding paradise’. There has not been a methodological approach towards the bird conservation as per the experts. Since, the plan to develop the state as bird watching destination for the revenue purpose so the strategy should be made accordingly.
The bird watching would be more beneficial if a proper knowledge is spread amongst the tourists about this species. Uttarakhand is blessed with natural diversity including variety of different species. There are several species of birds in the wilderness of Uttarakhand which can be a major source of income for the tourism and forest sectors.  The stress should be laid on the policy, conservation etc. for proper execution of this segment of the tourism.
Dr. Dinesh Bhatt, professor of zoology and environmental science and dean, faculty of life sciences at Gurukul Kangri University in Haridwar, is among 12 scientists selected for 27th International Ornithological Congress to be held in Vancouver, Canada in Aug 2018. According to him the research on birds is the least concerned area of science in the state. Amateur birders go into the wild and list the bird species based on their presence but the listing should be based on ecology, breeding, global warming impacts and habitation. It is a sad situation that we do not know whether the bird species are flourishing or declining.  He said that the two species – River Lapwing and Painted Stork – need immediate attention because of the poaching threat.
Bhatt also raised the problem of lack of interest shown by the government in this area and not supporting to field scientists. The process of seeking the permission to conduct the research in the wild is so cumbersome that the experts drop the idea of doing it. So, the first priority should be to make the procedures simple to conduct the research.

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