Rupam Bhaduri1, Jaydev Mandal2 and Leons Mathew Abraham3
(1Research Scholar, Centre for the Environment, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, 2Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology, M.C. College, Barpeta, 3Researcher, College of Veterinary Science, Khanapara, Guwahati. They can be reached at bhadurirupam@gmail.com)
Inland wetlands are pristine water bodies inhabiting diverse species of flora and fauna. Presence of vegetation on it makes them a unique ecosystem in itself. The State of Assam which lies in the floodplains of river Brahmaputra holds one of the highest numbers of wetlands (beels in Assamese) in our country. These wetlands act like reservoirs with capacity to hold the flooded water. Every year hundreds of species of waterfowls migrate from across the globe and most of them are accommodated in such wetlands or swamps for roosting. Although, water bodies such as Deepor Beel and Maguri Beel are well known for hosting birds, there are also smaller patches of wetlands which do not meet the international criteria of being a Ramsar Site or an Important Birding Area (IBA), but are equally important for the ecosystem as well as the communities residing alongside. One such example of a water body is Satajaan, a wetland situated in the North-Lakhimpur district of Assam. It is at a distance of approximately 8 km from the Lakhimpur township. The infamous wetland situated adjacent to the Pahumara-Kimin state highway and National Highway 15 is one of the last surviving wetlands of the region hosting enormous bird species every year. Being aside the river Ranganadi, the wetland with marshes and dense fringing vegetation receives fresh water recharge every monsoon. According to a research work published in December 2019 by Department of Botany, Rajiv Gandhi University, Arunachal Pradesh, there are 262 species of vascular plants on the wetland.
The wetland hordes the bird species from the onset of October till their return by the end of March or early April, enjoying the landscape which supports the roosting and breeding of birds. Some of the local non-migratory water birds such as White breasted Waterhen, Bronze-winged Jacana, Eurasian Moorehen, Grey-headed Swamphen and many others can be found here perennially. The migratory birds such as Gadwall which flies across different demographic conditions to reach the flood plains of Assam every year, too finds its shelter in this wetland. The local migratory waterfowls such as Lesser-whistling Duck, Fulvous-whistling Duck, Indian Spotbill Duck etc., get dispersed post-winter during their breeding season. In addition to the aforementioned water birds, Satajaan also accommodates local and migratory terrestrial and bush birds like Coucals, variety of Warblers, Starlings, Wagtails, Pipits etc. It was indeed astonishing to notice the density of birds in a relatively smaller area (39 acres). Under the interest of Mr. Pranjal Baruah, AFS (Range Forest Officer, Department of Forest, Government of Assam) and Mr. Pankaj Barua, a team of bird watchers and experts from Guahati University, College of Veterinary Science and Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati conducted a bird survey in December of 2019 to understand the avian diversity in Satajaan. A total of 71 species of avifauna were recorded by us during the survey which makes it a suitable habitat for hosting birds. The checklist along with the count of birds can be accessed freely by the public herehttps://ebird.org/india/checklist/S62551967. We also interacted with the locals residing around Satajaan wetland to have an in detail understanding of their dependencies on the wetland and efforts put to maintain it.
The interaction provided us insights to understand the role of the local community which has been exceptionally active in conserving this primeval wetland. Tracing back to the days of Mr. Baliram Gogoi, popularly known as 'Birdman of Lakhimpur', was the pioneer of this process of conservation which began approximately 40 years back and continued until his death in 2018. Under his leadership, the community prohibited the practice of poaching and illegal fishing around the wetland. Today, his son Mr. Lakhidhar Gogoi along with other members of the community have been carrying forward Mr. Baliram Gogoi's ideology in saving the birds from extinction in this rapidly developing capitalist world by protecting the Satajaan wetland. Along with Mr. Lakhidhar, the village head (Gaon Bura) too has been instrumental in protecting the wetland from nuisances, making it one of the few community protected wetlands of Assam. We also learned that, several Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) such as Ranganadi Prakriti Shuraksha and Bikash Samiti which was formed by associating people from nearby villages have been working to maintain the wetland. Other than NGOs, the academic institutions like the North Lakhimpur College and Bihupuria College also have been taking interest in understanding the wetland with bird counts and taking up students' dissertation projects.
When the changing climate is already showing its impact on the ecosystem globally, the health of this wetland have been further challenged by several anthropogenic activities. We were told by the locals that one of the primary reasons for the degradation of the wetland is yearly winter picnic accompanied by littering of plastic wastes, noise from loud speakers and clearing bushes for fire which was evident as we reached the site. Unfortunately, the time of the year also coincides with the arrival of migratory birds and human activities such as picnics disturb the natural state of avifauna. The wetland which is claimed to have got created by the devastating earthquake of 1950, has also observed the disturbances caused by sand mining along the river Ranganadi during the non-monsoon season. It is the same river which is already under pressure due to the upstream water infrastructure projects and has observed reduced hydrological flow. Presence of non-insulated high-tension wires around the wetland have added to the threats of lives of these flying birds and frequent cases of electrocution of birds are observed. This survey was the first-ever effort by the Department of Forest, Government of Assam to understand the diversity of avifauna residing on the water body.
We suggest frequent documentation of the birds which will provide the temporal diversity of avifauna in the wetland. The birders can also upload their sightings to eBird.org (a citizen science based online inventory to report bird and their count in a given area) to make the data accessible to public. Interdisciplinary researches must be conducted to understand this wetland from technical as well as social perspective. Along with the birds, there could also be a decent diversity of Herpetofauna and a documentation can be carried out, the results of which might interest researchers across the globe and demand conservation of this wetland from a policy level. If Satajaan wetland is not scientifically managed following the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 (updated on 2020) by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, there is always a chance that the wetland will lose its charisma as well as importance of being resourceful. Intervention from the Government will also be utmost important to prohibit any kind of disturbances to the wetland through human activities, especially when winter is here and picnic plans are on its way. However, the efforts led need not be limited to Satajaan or any one wetland. Each swamp has its own importance and must be protected to the level best.