Recently declared Ramsar Site, Asan Conservation Reserve of Western Himalayan foothills serving as a migratory bird hotspot inspiring the youngsters towards conservation

Introduction:

The Indian Himalayan Region consists of three parallel ranges, the Greater known as the Himadri; the Lesser Himalayas called the Himachal, and the Shivalik hills, which comprise the foothills. Nestled in these foothills, the Doon Valley is an unusually wide, geologically-rich gap between the Shivalik Hills and the Range of the lower Himalayas. Within the valley lies the city of , the capital of state. The Doon Valley is a "microcosm" of the Western Himalayas because of the extensive range of habitats with steep altitudinal range which contains three Important Bird Areas (IBAs), making it a birding hotspot. It is also an area of historical importance for ornithology, as it was the first Himalayan region to be conquered by the British Empire in 1816. As a consequence, the first scientific efforts at formal, long-term, unrestricted ornithological study in any part of the Himalayas began in the Doon Valley. The Asan Conservation Reserve (ACR) comprises, a freshwater reservoir, a Reserve Forest Area (Rampurmandi Forest Block which also includes adjoining riverbed), a stretch of river bed of Asan river and Yamuna hydel canal near village Dhalipur in of the state of Uttarakhand. Located 38 km from the city of Dehradun, the reservoir is at the confluence of Yamuna hydro-electric canal and river Asan. The barrage which is situated across the river Asan is 287.5 m long, the river bed being 396.00 m above sea level, with minimum and maximum water levels at 401.5 m and 403.3 m msl respectively. The reserve is known particularly for its avifaunal diversity including global and local migratory birds along-with resident waterbirds due to which it has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) and recently in 2020 designated as ‘Wetland of national Importance’ by Ramsar Convention of wetlands. On February 2, to mark the 1st Ramsar wetland of Uttarakhand declared as ‘Wetland of National Importance’

on Ramsar Convention on Wetlands – “The Asan Conservation Reserve” a large number of water-birds are documented. Methods and parameters considered for bird documentation:

Birds have been considered as ecological indicators as they are ecologically versatile and live in all types of habitat (Koskimies, 1989). Birds respond to environmental changes over many spatial scales. They are also well suited for monitoring because (1) they advertise their presence through vocalizations, making them relatively easy to detect and identify, (2) they can be censused efficiently over large areas, and (3) their occurrence, abundance and reproductive success are influenced by the nature and configuration of surrounding habitats (Carignan, 2001). Most of the participated college students were introduced to document avifauna for the very first time. So, basic things of ornithology were focused. There are some important criterion applied specifically for wetland and migratory water-bird documentation which includes birds at the selected patch or habitat, male and female differences, distinguishing the local/global migration, learning the specific attributes of shorebirds and their identification, distinguish specific body movement and approaching behaviour during their feeding, movement of the ducks according to the sunlight etc. Questions regarding bird behaviour also takes into consideration for example: Noticing large feeding flocks of Cormorants? Type of species: Great, Little or Indian? Do they occur at specific times of the year, or of the day? Why the Ruddy Shelducks moves from one site to another as the day passes? Why the ducks of different species always stay as a flock? Do they follow any specific attributes? How little grebe keep drowning in one place to another? What does these specific behaviours signify? etc. In total 330 species of birds reported, globally threatened species have been reported from the reserve. Some of the documented bird names during the event are included here, Ruddy Shelduck, Tufted Duck, Greylag goose, Red-crested Pochard, Northern pintail, Gadwall, Common Pochard, Northern Shoveller, Painted Stork, Grey Headed Swamphen, Common Coot, Common moorhen, Indian spot-billed duck, Grey heron, River lapwing, Green Sandpiper, Egrets, kingfishers and cormorants etc. Such events met with the important goal of conserving wetland and its biodiversity through the participation of college students as they come from several backgrounds like local communities, farmers, hunters, tourist guides and many more. These awareness events will raise the importance of conserving soaring birds to humans and their livelihood.

Addressing the importance of migratory birds into the tourism and agriculture also can be an emerging fact which subsequently will conserve the habitat. Watching two egrets/ cormorants doing head wagging, wing salute, marching, wing-leg stretch, twist preen bowing (inverted wing salute) or a red-wattled lapwing building a nest, incubate their eggs and raise five enormous fluffy fledglings in the hedge is something which brings more pleasure than watching a movie in a theatre. People across the world have found themselves becoming more aware of their natural surroundings since the COVID-19 pandemic pressed pause on our ordinary lives. And while we all wish this tragedy hadn’t happened, sometimes it can take a huge upheaval to see what’s important in life. This growing public awareness of nature is exactly what we need on a planet that’s facing more pressure than ever before from climate change and the extinction crisis. .

A picture of field note documentation by the students

By Oyndrila Sanyal Senior Research Fellow MAATY organization