This years environment status report (ESR) of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will incorporate the bird census,carried out by city-based Ecological Society recently. The PMC had appointed the Energy Research Institute (TERI) for preparing the ESR. The Ecological Society had conducted the bird census in Pune between June 6 and 10. The last Pune bird census was carried out March 1979. As compared to 12,000 hectare in 1979,the area covered was almost double this time. Mangesh Dighe,environment officer with PMC,said,TERI had suggested that we talk to the public for inputs on status of bio-diversity in the city. Meanwhile,we came across the news reports about bird census carried out by Ecological Society and we got in touch with them. We had a bio-diversity report on Pune prepared by another NGO,RANWA. But it was from 2000. Ecological Society data is the latest one available on birds. Gunavant Mahajan,a member of Ecological Society,said,The data collected by us will prove meaningful only if the PMC considers it while taking policy decisions. The bird density in Pune has drastically come down,from 2.8 to 1.8 per hectare the most important reason being destruction of their habitat. A closer look at our data has revealed that,number of tree birds,garden birds and birds that can survive in man-made surroundings,has increased. But there is a drastic fall in the number of water birds and grassland birds. Number of predator birds or raptors has also gone down. Prathamesh Choure,a research associate with TERI,said,We are doing this study based on the guidelines by Maharashtra Pollution Control Board. We analyse biodiversity based on five factors,driving forces,pressures,states,impacts and responses (DPSIR). Bird count data will actually be used in the impacts part of it as the birds are important indicators of the status of environment. The DPSIR framework has been adopted from the European Environment Society. This census,conducted by 130 volunteers who combed 25 thousand hectares of city for 5 days,had revealed that in areas where waste in disposed irresponsibly,the number of birds like common crow,kite and mynah has gone up creating an imbalance in the ecosystem. Mahajan said,PMC authorities must understand that just planting trees is not conservation. What has happened to the water bodies and hilly patches that make Pune a unique location and the open grasslands in and around city? They are rapidly disappearing. We hope the startling bird census data have a positive effect on PMCs outlook towards conservation effort.
