On October 10, 2020 (the world migratory bird day, 2020) organised Biodiversity by the Bay’ campaign, initiated by ministry of Mumbai’s Magic, a citizens group. On this occasion a webinar, titled ‘The Flight of the Pink—How can Mumbai Protect the Lesser Flamingos’ was organised. The experts from Mumbai came together to discuss ways to protect lesser flamingos. They viewed that four decades ago, conditions were altogether different rather ideal for flamingos to visit the city, compared to the present time, when they are forced to feed within a tiny piece of land because of the continuous destruction of wetlands and development activities in different fields.
As per Stalin Dayanand, Director of Projects, Vanashakti, the habitat for flamingos and wetland birds shrunk to about 20 per cent after the loss of 2,000 hectares of wetlands for the Navi Mumbai International Airport and JNPT expansions.
Similarly, the experts also discussed how wetlands at Uran became a flamingo hotspot, and reclaimed to construct a new airport. Apart from that, the ongoing construction of the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (a 22-km sea bridge) cuts across mangroves and mudflats to Navi Mumbai imposes further concern for flamingos. All such activities limit large flocking of flamingos between Thane Creek and the Arabian Sea, i.e., Sewri bay.
Presently, the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary is the last refuge for 1.5 lakh birds, which concentrate here now. It is an important bird area that needs all the mangroves, grasslands, water bodies, rocky areas of the creek in contiguity with the sanctuary, to be added to the sanctuary. Now, there is more than 60 per cent of the habitat that has been kept out of the sanctuary limits, in order to help real estate and other projects in the future. The ecologically sensitive zone (ESZ) notification status would not help protect it like a sanctuary can.
Flamingos are migratory birds with bright pink feathers, stilt-like legs, and S-shaped neck. Its favourite foods include shrimp, snails, and plantlike water organisms called algae. It plunges its head into the water, twists it upside down, and scoops the food, using its upper beak like a shovel. They can run on water due to their webbed feet to gain speed before lifting up into the sky. They build nests that look like mounds of mud along waterways on top of which, the female lays one egg in a shallow hole. The parents keep it warm in turns, which hatches in about a month. Though most flamingos are not endangered, the Andean flamingo is listed as vulnerable, while the Chilean, lesser, and Puna flamingos are near threatened.
Ecologically Sensitive Zone (ESZ) are areas, notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), around protected areas, national parks, and wildlife sanctuaries. The ESZs are some kind of ‘shock absorbers’ to the protected areas and act as a transition zone from areas of high protection to areas involving lesser protection. In 2011, new guidelines for regulation of such areas were released by the government.
Courtesy: The Hindu, kids.nationalgeographic.com