Some good news for the endangered bird species around the world – Nepal has opened a bird sanctuary which provides a home for about a dozen bird species. These species include the great hornbill and the Indian spotted eagle, which are both globally threatened.
As an attempt to provide some help to the conservation of birds globally, the municipalities in western Nepal’s Sudurpashchim province declared the Ghodaghodi complex a bird sanctuary. These wetlands stretch over 2 563 hectares and act as a habitat to more than 360 bird species – both native and migratory.
“The launch of the first bird sanctuary in the country sends a message that local governments are equally committed to conserving biodiversity,” said ornithologist Hem Sagar Baral, the Nepal country representative for the Zoological Society of London to Mongabay.
Not only birds call the Ghodaghodi complex consisting of a system of lakes, marshes and woods home. Both the Bengal tiger, the red-crowned roofed turtle and other threatened species also live in the area.
“Mere declaration of the area as a bird sanctuary is not enough,” said Trilochan Bhatta, Sudurpashchim’s chief minister. “It’s everyone’s duty to conserve the natural, religious, and historical importance of this site.”
Linn Winge
