145 bird species spotted during the first bird festival in Sundarbans

145 bird species spotted during the first bird festival in Sundarbans

Subject : Environment

Section: Species In news

Context: The first-ever festival was organised by the Sundarban Tiger Reserve (STR) division of West Bengal Forest Department, where six teams visited different areas inside the Sundarban Biosphere Reserve.

More on the News:

• The species recorded during the Bird Festival included 78 forest birds and 42 species of waders, raptors etc.
• Among the threatened species of the Sundarbans, Eurasian Curlew was spotted. Birders were able to spot seven of the nine species of kingfishers found in the Sundarbans.
• Despite being home to so many species of birds the habitats face different threats including plantation activity along the chars (river islands) which disturbs the birds, and illegal activities along chars and uninhabited islands. The threats also include climate change and the use of destructive fishing nets in the Sundarbans.
• There is also a need for increasing protection along non-forest areas for birds as well as creating small protected areas in the non-forest regions at critical locations for bird-breeding and migration.

Sundarban National Park

• The Sundarban National Park is located in the south-east of Calcutta in the District of West Bengal and forms part of the Gangetic Delta.
• The Sundarbans mangrove forest, one of the largest such forests in the world, lies across India and Bangladesh on the delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers on the Bay of Bengal.
• It is adjacent to the border of India’s Sundarbans World Heritage site inscribed in 1987.
• The site is intersected by a complex network of tidal waterways, mudflats and small islands of salt-tolerant mangrove forests, and presents an excellent example of ongoing ecological processes.
• The area is known for its wide range of fauna, including 260 bird species, the Bengal tiger and other threatened species such as the estuarine crocodile and the Indian python.
• It is home to many rare and globally threatened wildlife species such as the estuarine crocodile, Royal Bengal Tiger, Water monitor lizard, Gangetic dolphin, and olive ridley turtles.
• Sundarban Wetland, India was recognised as the ‘Wetland of International Importance’ under the Ramsar Convention in January 2019.
• The Sunderbans Delta is the only mangrove forest in the world inhabited by tigers.