KOCHI, November 26, 2013
Bird conservation plans will be prepared for each district of the State under the aegis of the Kerala Forest Department.
A meeting of the bird enthusiasts, convened by the Social Forestry wing of the Department at Kochi on Monday, also chalked out a plan to include NGOs and citizen groups in the conservation programmes.
The district plans would be ready by mid- December. Survey of commonly found birds will be held with the support of residents associations and schools. Initial surveys will identify places which have bird populations. Water bird surveys will be held in January followed by a heronry survey during July-August.
A monthly survey for pelagic birds has also been proposed, according to the organisers. The Assistant Conservators of Forests (Social Forestry) will coordinate the activities, the organisers said.
The Forest department proposes to build citizen support for the conservation drive and to develop a network of trained bird conservationists. Organisations and institutions would be encouraged to take up conservation programmes and issues related bird-human conflicts especially the problems faced by the farmers will also be addressed, the organisers said.
K. Babu, Minister for Excise, inaugurated the workshop.
K. Sukumaran, former judge of the High Court of Kerala; B.S. Corrie, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Social Forestry); P.O. Nameer, head, Wildlife Division of the Kerala Agricultural University; Winston Suting, Chief Conservator of Forests (Social Forestry); and ornithologist Vishnu Das were among those who spoke.
The Hindu, 26/11/2013
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