BANGALORE:
The year was 2012. Amur Falcons, the long-distance, trans-equatorial
migratory birds that cover up to 22,000 km a year, were being silently
massacred in Nagaland.
Cut to 2013. They are flying free.
Thousands of these winged visitors literally vanished from the menus of
Nagaland, thanks to an unprecedented mobilization led by Bangalore-based
NGO, Conservation India. The bird migrates all the way from Eastern
Asia to Southern Africa and back, with transits in several places,
including Nagaland.
In October 2012, Ramki Sreenivasan, head of
Conservation India, and his associates at the , discovered the
prevalence of such mass hunting and documented the massacre. "Not one
but tens of thousands of Amur Falcons were being hunted down along the
Doyang reservoir. We learnt that this was going on for the past several
years, and it seemed to coincide with the construction of Doyang dam in
the early 2000s," said Ramki.
According to estimates, during
the peak migration season (mid to late October), the birds were hunted
every day for local consumption and commercial sale. Figures revealed
that 120,000 to 140,000 of these birds were being killed every year
during their passage through Nagaland.
The video went viral and
managed to grab eyeballs globally. "It was only after this that the
conservation effort was launched. The government too took note and did
the right things. We collaborated with a local body to educate the
masses," said Ramki.
Help came from the Nagaland government
which prepared itself for the 2013 season. The forest department along
with the district administration, local NGOs and police, set up ground
patrols and checks in local markets. The church also pitched in by
conducting special services on Sundays to spread the word on
conservation.
Said Bano Haralu, managing trustee, NWBCT: "Local
communities respond better when the youth are educated, and this can
happen only through intensive grassroots education."
"This year
too, the Nagaland government is keeping a close watch and may set up
camps manned by volunteers at key zones," said Ramki.
Add to that education programmes (setting up of Eco Clubs in schools etc) which will run parallelly.
FOR FREE FLIGHT
How they are doing it
Besides ote awareness, livelihood opportunities are being enhanced.
* A low-impact eco-tourism model is being pioneered in these villages
for everyone to witness the fantastic spectacle of tens of thousands of
migrating Amur Falcons
* The model is likely to create simple
homestays and involve hunters as guides, homestay owners, boat-men etc.,
so that they are incentivized to conserve the annual visitors and not
hunt them down.
‘Protect mangroves, mudflats or flamingoes may not return’
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