Fewer winter migratory water birds from central and north Asia were sighted at the Ropar Wetland in Punjab this season, apparently because of increasing human interference.

Findings:

• Asian Waterbird Census 2017, conducted by Wetlands International, South Asia, and Punjab’s Wildlife Preservation Department on January 16 this year, revealed that the number of water birds this season stood at 2,302 as against 3,114 last year.
• The birds that came up this year included oriental darter and river papwing, both put on the red-list by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
• The census revealed that while the number of Eurasian coot, bar-headed geese, ruddy shelduck, oriental darter and river lapwing dwindled this year, that of graylag goose and red-crested pochard increased.
• Among India’s resident water birds, spot-billed duck rose in number to 130 against 56 last year.

About Ropar Wetland:

• Ropar has been declared a wetland by the Ramsar Convention of Wetlands.
• Asian Waterbird Census is part of the International Waterbird Census of Wetlands International, South Asia, which conducts the exercise every January across Asia and Australia.
• “Ropar is a riverine wetland with hardly any vegetation; but there are farmlands along the riverbanks where geese and ducks go for feeding.
• The Montreux Record is a register of wetland sites on the List of Wetlands of International Importance where changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring, or are likely to occur as a result of technological developments, pollution or other human interference.