66 bird species from NE in “high-conservation concern” category: Report

NEW DELHI: According to State of India’s Birds 2020, released during 13th Conference of Parties of the Convention on the conservation of migratory species of wild animals in New Delhi on Monday, 66 bird species from northeast India come under “high-conservation concern” category.

Of these, 23 are in Arunachal Pradesh, 22 in Assam, seven in Manipur, three in Meghalaya, four in Mizoram, five in Nagaland and two in Tripura, claim reports.

“This assessment of nearly 867 Indian species makes it very clear that our birds are in overall decline, in some cases catastrophically so. Many more species show a downward trend than an upward trend,” states the report.

The report was created after 10 million observations were uploaded to the eBird platform by more than 15,500 birdwatchers to evaluate the distribution range size of 867 Indian birds, and their trends in abundance in both the long term (over 25+ years) and currently (past 5 years).

"We hope that this information translates into many voices being raised for bird conservation, both among conservation bodies, and the general public,” says Dr Mousumi Ghosh (NCBS-TIFR), part of the team who worked on the report.

Some of the key findings of the report are as follows:

Also Read: New species of orchid discovered in Arunachal Pradesh

Also Watch: BJP State President Ranjeet Dass lays foundation stone for erosion protection work at Safakamar