BNHS to host ‘International Conference On Wetland and Migratory Birds’

Mumbai, November 8: Every year, like clockwork, millions of migratory birds begin an arduous journey from their northern breeding grounds to the warmer tropical countries in the south. Thanks to bird migration studies, we now know that the birds follow designated routes or flyways, year after year, to reach their wintering grounds.

India lies at the heart of the Central Asian Flyway (CAF), one of the nine major global flyways. Its warm climate and rich food resources along diverse habitats like wetlands, grasslands, forests, coastlines and agricultural fields attract a wide variety of winter migrants. The pioneering bird ringing studies of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), where more than 700,000 birds have been ringed to date, has contributed significantly to the knowledge about CAF, and is helping the Indian government and civil society to chalk out management actions for the habitats used by the migratory birds. But a host of issues like climate change, development projects and human population explosion are posing a challenge to the task.

What does it mean to protect and conserve these habitats? What are the issues that pose a challenge to both the government and civil society groups to manage these habitats? And how does this concern all of us? To know more, head to the 5-day International Conference organised by the Bombay Natural History Society on ‘Wetland and Migratory Waterbirds of the Asian Flyways’ from 18th to 22nd November 2019 at Fariyas Resort, Lonavala, Maharashtra. It is intended to provide a common meeting ground for scientists, conservationists, managers and students for fantastic scientific learnings occurring along the Asian flyways.

Our plenary speakers are Dr Taej Mundkur, International Waterbird Census Coordinator and Senior Technical Officer, Wetlands International; Ms Patricia Zurita, CEO Birdlife International; Evgeny Syroechkovskiy, PhD, Deputy Director of All-Russian Institute for Nature Conservation (ARRINC) All-Russian Research Institute for Nature Conservation and Ms Courtney Price, Arctic Migratory Birds Initiative Global Flyway Coordinator & Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna Communications Manager and many more speakers and panellists from across the globe.