As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Thursday, 9 February 2017

New report highlights the need for Nepal's bird conservation efforts to take flight

27th January 2017

A new assessment of the country’s
bird life finds a fifth of species are under threat.

Conservationists from ZSL are
calling for greater efforts to protect Nepal’s native birds, as the first
comprehensive assessment of the status of the country’s avian species reveals
that nearly a fifth are threatened with extinction.

Nepal’s National Red List of
Birds, the topic of a report published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa, was compiled over five
years by a team from ZSL and led by independent bird expert Carol Inskipp,
alongside Nepal’s National
Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC); the Department of
National Parks and Wildlife Conservation and with the help of Himalayan Nature. The
first complete assessment of Nepal’s bird species made using the criteria of
the International
Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the report also reveals
that only nine avian species – representing just one per cent of the country’s
rich bird life – are currently on the list of strictly protected birds.

From the soaring peaks of the
Himalayas in the north of the country, to the lowland grasslands in the south,
the team combined official surveys with historical observations, to assess the
conservation status of all 878 bird species native to Nepal. Alongside an IUCN
classification of each species (using the Red List categories of ‘Least
Concern’, ‘Near-threatened’, ‘Vulnerable’, ‘Endangered’ and ‘Critically
Endangered’), the report identifies the key threats to bird life alongside
recommended conservation action.

Habitat loss, degradation and
fragmentation top the list as the most urgent threats, driven by the country’s
rapid population increase as human settlements, agriculture and industry
increasingly encroach into the birds’ natural habitats.

Species of particular concern
include those native to lowland grassland habitats, such as the Bengal florican
(Houbaropsis bengalensis), which face
increasing threats due to the conversion of habitat into farmland, with
associated issues including use of pesticides. Many of these grassland birds
are now entirely restricted to Nepal’s protected areas.