Protecting migrant birds

Congratulating Ravi on the “wonderful” find of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper, the Ceylon Bird Club (CBC) Chairman Dr. Pathmanath Samaraweera says that the CBC kept the news limited for a short period of time to allow the study of the bird, as there is a present tendency for “photographic trophy hunters” to chase after rare birds, disturbing them.

“The CBC is happy that Vankalai Sanctuary and Veditalativu Nature Reserve (NR) were declared as protected following up on the data provided by the club. We thank the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) for this and for further conservation measures even with limited resources in personnel,” he says, adding that the declaration was primarily to protect migrant birds. “If any ‘ringing’ is done we urge the DWC to observe or monitor and enforce, the stringent international rules which apply, to prevent any harm to them.”

Referring to the wind farm in Mannar, Dr. Samaraweera says that they are disappointed that in spite of the extensive data and analysis supplied by the CBC highlighting the importance of the migratory pathway across which the wind turbines are to be constructed, the Ceylon Electricity Board and the Asian Development Bank chose to accept reports that stated that there was no significant collision threat to migratory birds from the wind turbines.

Vankalai Sanctuary, a little over 4,800 hectares, and Veditalativu NR, even larger, together form an unbroken extent of land, one of the richest and most important waterbird areas in the world. They were declared protected areas in 2008 and 2016 respectively and Vankalai was named a Ramsar Site in 2010, all on data provided by the CBC. A CBC team carrying out its annual waterbird census at Veditalativu Lagoon in 2010, found a million shorebirds and in the Vankalai Sanctuary, it recorded half a million shorebirds in 2016 and 2018, and more than 100,000 waterbirds on several occasions.

“There has been political pressure to de-gazette part of the Veditalativu NR for an aquaculture farm! The two protected areas have been encroached on already with political support or even initiative. These are not the only instances,” the CBC adds.