OPEN ACCESS The Journal of Threatened Taxa fs dedfcated to bufldfng evfdence for conservafon globally by publfshfng peer-revfewed arfcles onlfne every month at a reasonably rapfd rate at www.threatenedtaxa.org . All arfcles publfshed fn JoTT are regfstered under Creafve Commons Atrfbufon 4.0 Internafonal Lfcense unless otherwfse menfoned. JoTT allows unrestrfcted use of arfcles fn any medfum, reproducfon, and dfstrfbufon by provfdfng adequate credft to the authors and the source of publfcafon. Journal of Threatened Taxa Bufldfng evfdence for conservafon globally www.threatenedtaxa.org ISSN 0974-7907 (Onlfne) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Prfnt) Revfew Nepal’s Natfonal Red Lfst of Bfrds Carol Inskfpp, Hem Sagar Baral, Tfm Inskfpp, Ambfka Prasad Khafwada, Monsoon Pokharel Khafwada, Laxman Prasad Poudyal & Rajan Amfn 26 January 2017 | Vol. 9| No. 1 | Pp. 9700–9722 10.11609/jot. 2855 .9.1. 9700-9722 For Focus, Scope, Afms, Polfcfes and Gufdelfnes vfsft htp://threatenedtaxa.org/About_JoTT.asp For Arfcle Submfssfon Gufdelfnes vfsft htp://threatenedtaxa.org/Submfssfon_Gufdelfnes.asp For Polfcfes agafnst Scfenffc Mfsconduct vfsft htp://threatenedtaxa.org/JoTT_Polfcy_agafnst_Scfenffc_Mfsconduct.asp For reprfnts contact <[email protected]> Publfsher/Host Partner Threatened Taxa Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 January 2017 | 9(1): 9700–9722 Revfew Nepal’s Natfonal Red Lfst of Bfrds Carol Inskfpp 1 , Hem Sagar Baral 2 , Tfm Inskfpp 3 , Ambfka Prasad Khafwada 4 , 5 6 7 ISSN 0974-7907 (Onlfne) Monsoon Pokharel Khafwada , Laxman Prasad Poudyal & Rajan Amfn ISSN 0974-7893 (Prfnt) 1 3 Hfgh Street, Stanhope, Bfshop Auckland Co., Durham DL132UP, UK 2 Zoologfcal Socfety of London - Nepal Ofce, PO Box 5867, Kathmandu Nepal and School of Envfronmental Scfences, OPEN ACCESS Charles Sturt Unfversfty, PO Box 789, Aldbury, NSW 2640, Australfa 3 1 Hernesfde, Welney, Wfsbech, Cambs PE149SB, UK 4 Nafonal Trust for Nature Conservafon (NTNC) - Bardfa Conservafon Program (BCP), Thakurdwara, Nepal 5 Alumnf Assocfafon for Conservafon and Development, Kathmandu, Nepal 6 Department of Nafonal Parks and Wfldlffe Conservafon, PO Box 860, Kathmandu, Nepal 7 Zoologfcal Socfety of London, Regents Park, London NW14RY, UK 1 [email protected] (correspondfng author), 2 [email protected], 3 [email protected], 4 [email protected], 5 [email protected], 6 [email protected], 7 [email protected] Abstract: The mafn objecfves of the Nepal Nafonal Bfrd Red Data Book were to provfde comprehensfve and up-to-date accounts of all the bfrd specfes found fn Nepal, assess thefr status applyfng the IUCN Gufdelfnes at Regfonal Levels, fdenffy threats to all bfrd specfes and recommend the most pracfcal measures for thefr conservafon. It fs hoped that the Bfrd RDB wfll help Nepal achfeve the Convenfon on Bfologfcal Dfversfty target of prevenfng the exfncfon of known threatened specfes and fmprovfng thefr conservafon status. As populafon changes of Nepal’s bfrds have been studfed for only a few specfes, assessments of specfes’ nafonal status were mafnly made by assessfng changes fn dfstrfbufon. Specfes dfstrfbufon maps were produced for all of Nepal’s bfrd specfes except vagrants and compared to maps that were produced fn 1991 usfng the same mappfng system. Of the 878 bfrd specfes recorded, 168 specfes (19%) were assessed as nafonally threatened. These comprfse 68 (40%) Crffcally Endangered specfes, 38 (23%) Endangered specfes and 62 (37%) Vulnerable specfes. A total of 62 specfes was consfdered Near Threatened and 22 specfes Data Defcfent. Over 55% of the threatened bfrds are lowland grassland specfalfsts, 25% are wetland bfrds and 24% tropfcal and sub-tropfcal broadleaved forest bfrds. Larger bfrds appear to be more threatened than smaller bfrds wfth 98 (25%) non-passerfne specfes threatened and 67 (14%) passerfne specfes. Habftat loss, degradafon and fragmentafon are the most fmportant threats. Other threats fnclude chemfcal pofsonfng, over- exploftafon, clfmate change, hydropower, fnvasfve specfes, fntensffcafon of agrfculture, dfsturbance, and lfmfted conservafon measures and research. Measures to address these threats are descrfbed. It was also concluded that re-assessments of the status of certafn bfrd groups carrfed out every fve years and the sefng up of a nafonal onlfne system for storfng and reporfng bfrd sfghfngs would be useful. Keywords: Bfodfversfty, bfrds, conservafon, Nepal, Red Lfst of Threatened Specfes . DOI : htp://dof.org/10.11609/jot.2855.9.1. 9700 -9722 | ZooBank: urn:lsfd:zoobank.org:pub:F3D6461D-F4A3-422A-A8CD-8B42730FE630 Edftors: P.O. Nameer & Sanjay Molur, Indfa. Date of publfcafon: 26 January 2017 (onlfne & prfnt) Manuscrfpt detafls: Ms # 2855 | Recefved 19 June 2016 | Ffnal recefved 01 January 2017 | Ffnally accepted 07 January 2017 Cftafon: Inskfpp, C., H.S. Baral, T. Inskfpp, A.P. Khafwada, M.P. Khafwada, L. Poudyal & R. Amfn (2017). Nepal’s Nafonal Red Lfst of Bfrds . Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(1): 9700 –9722 ; htp://dof.org/10.11609/jot.2855.9.1. 9700 -9722 Copyrfght: © Inskfpp et al. 2017 . Creafve Commons Atrfbufon 4.0 Internafonal Lfcense. JoTT allows unrestrfcted use of thfs arfcle fn any medfum, reproducfon and dfstrfbufon by provfdfng adequate credft to the authors and the source of publfcafon. Fundfng: Zoologfcal Socfety of London. Compefng fnterests: The authors declare no compefng fnterests. For Author Contrfbufon, Author Detafls and Acknowledgements: see end of thfs arfcle. LOGOs 9700 Nepal’s National Red List of Birds Inskipp et al. INTRODUCTION al. 2016), which was completed in February 2016. This Red List is the first comprehensive status assessment of The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is all Nepal’s bird species using the IUCN categories and internationally recognised as the world’s most criteria. The results from this assessment are presented authoritative and objective inventory for classifying here. species’ extinction risk at the global scale. It is however not always possible to integrate this information into conservation planning and priority-setting at MATERIALS AND METHODS national level, where most conservation policies are implemented. Based on the same robust and objective Initially a desk study was undertaken of published process, National Red Lists can provide information and unpublished literature to compile a comprehensive about the rate of change of a nation’s biodiversity over bibliography of over 2000 references (Inskipp 2015a). time, assess the extinction risk of native species and help Using this bibliography, a Nepal bird species reference in the development of effective conservation policies document, where each species was annotated with and action plans. The approach can provide an excellent relevant references, was compiled (Inskipp 2015b). This basis for measuring a country’s progress towards document was used as the reference source to draft achieving the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) detailed species accounts for all species except vagrants, target “By 2020 the extinction of known threatened and to assess the threat status of all species. species has been prevented and their conservation Population changes of Nepal’s birds have been status, particularly of those most in decline, has been studied for only a few species, all of which have improved and sustained”. been assessed as globally threatened by BirdLife Nepal harbours an extraordinary variety of International. Assessments of species’ national status landscapes, habitats, wildlife and cultures. Although it were therefore mainly made by assessing changes in occupies only 0.1% of the world’s total land mass, its distribution. Species distribution maps were produced diverse physiographic features range from the Arctic for all of Nepal’s bird species except vagrants. The same high Himalayan peaks (the highest terrestrial ecosystem mapping system was used as in Inskipp & Inskipp (1991), in the world) to the tropical lowlands of the Terai. Also which mapped all bird species recorded up to 1990. The important is Nepal’s geographical position in the central country was divided into squares (based on geographical Himalaya, in a region of overlap between the Palearctic coordinates for ease of reference), each one being half a realm to the north and the Oriental (Indomalayan) realm degree square. Where species were recorded in squares to the south. In a relatively small area of 147,181km2 pre-1990 they were marked with a closed circle and Nepal is home to 3.2% and 1.1% of the world’s known where they were recorded post-1990 they were marked flora and fauna, respectively (MoFSc 2014), including with a square. Where species were recorded both pre- around 8% of the world’s known bird species (Inskipp and post-1990, the square and circle were both included et al. 2016). in the half degree square. Assessments were then made A large proportion of over 23% of the country’s of the status of most species by comparing distribution landmass is designated as protected areas, with 10 in pre-1990 and post-1990. national parks, three wildlife reserves, one hunting During the assessment process two national Red- reserve and six conservation areas (Fig. 1). Between 2002 List workshops were held in Chitwan National Park, and 2013 eight areas were declared protected forests in October 2012 (three days) and October 2015 (five (1,336.85km2); and eight additional areas (6,700.96km2) days). These workshops were each attended by over have been proposed by the Government of Nepal 60 bird experts who provided records