Bird conservation: On a wing and a prayer

One of the delights of London is open green spaces, such as Hyde Park, Green Park and Regent’s Park. My favourite is the Thames Path that meanders nearly 300km from the river’s source in the Cotswolds, through stunning countryside and rural counties, the city of Oxford, Henley, past Windsor Castle and Hampton Court and into the heart of London. It passes through water meadows rich in biodiversity, birds and wildlife, historic towns and villages, providing a tranquil space for long and short-distance walkers, runners and cyclists.

You often come across groups of walkers taking on the challenge of traversing the entire distance over some days and nights, equipped with portable tents, backpacks and cameras with zoom lens to shoot birds and other spectacular sights along the way. The stretch along Richmond and Kew Gardens to Putney is particularly enchanting, with walkers and runners often stopping to capture birds such as the Kingfisher, Grey Heron, Egyptian Goose and Mute Swan on smartphones.

Thames Path regulars like me have noticed increasing numbers of people enjoying its sights and sounds during the Covid-19 lockdowns, when experts said it was safe to venture in open spaces. Surveys confirmed the trend: more people said watching birds in their gardens or in open spaces and hearing their song added to the enjoyment of life since the onset of the pandemic. According to a survey by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), two-thirds of the United Kingdom found solace in watching birds and hearing their song. A major drop in air traffic over London during the lockdowns made birds and their songs more distinct, with many people putting out feed and water for their avian friends.

For centuries, birds have winged their way across the globe, reflected in imaginations, culture, art and philosophy, while also playing a key role in preserving the ecosystem by controlling pests, cleaning up waste and spreading seeds. Around 5 per cent of the plants used by humans for food or medicine are estimated to be pollinated by birds. They migrate vast distances across continents, now increasingly tracked by bird lovers and others through satellite technology. In 2015, the territorial and chippy Robin, which punches above its weight, was elected as Britain’s national bird through a poll.

RSPB’s 43rd annual Big Garden Birdwatch — considered the world’s largest wildlife survey, joined by over a million people — began last weekend, on until February 20, when people are asked to submit details of birds they see, providing an insight on how garden birds are faring. Says Beccy Speight, RSPB’s chief executive: “Lockdowns have brought few benefits, but the last year has either started or reignited a love of nature for many people. Nature is soul-food to us humans. The results of this survey indicate we may emerge from this pandemic a new generation of nature lovers. We know the bleak winter weather has made lockdown restrictions feel unbearable for many. But we hope the Birdwatch will help lift spirits and remind people nature is an incredible, reassuring constant when everything else has been disrupted. Nature will get us through. We know that nature is in crisis but together we can all take action to revive our world.”

A plunging population

But such large surveys and other accounts in recent decades have reinforced the sorry story of birds facing serious crises across the globe. The RSPB estimates that 38 million birds have been lost from UK skies alone in the last 50 years. The figures are stark. Globally, experts say there are more than 11,000 species, but 182 species are believed to have become extinct since 1500; with 19 species lost in the last quarter of the 20th century and four more known or suspected to have gone extinct since 2000. They believe the rate of extinction on continents appears to be increasing, mainly due to extensive, expanding habitat destruction and rapid modernisation that takes a toll on wetlands and biodiverse land.

The RSPB, whose history goes back to 1889, is among several organisations working in the area, with Cambridge-based BirdLife International seeking to influence action at the global and local levels through a partnership with 115 organisations, including in south Asia, such as the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka and Bird Conservation Nepal. BirdLife (honorary president: Princess Takamado of Japan) and RSPB are supported by millions of members and millions of pounds in annual funding from a range sources.

Based on results of Birdwatch and other accounts, the RSPB produces lists of bird species of concern: red (of highest conservation priority, with species needing urgent action), amber (the next most critical group) and green (least critical). Its 2021 report says more birds than ever before were placed on the red list. Says Speight: “This is more evidence that the UK’s wildlife is in freefall and not enough is being done to reverse declines. With almost double the number of birds on the Red List since the first review in 1996, we are seeing once common species such as Swift and Greenfinch now becoming rare. As with our climate this really is the last chance saloon to halt and reverse the destruction of nature.”

The Swift, House Martin, Greenfinch and Bewick’s Swan moved to the Red list because of population declines, joining other well-known birds such as Puffins and Cuckoos.

Andrew Stanbury, conservation scientist at RSPB, adds: “The fact that we know Swifts, House Martins and Greenfinches are in more trouble now than they were when they were assessed a few years ago is thanks to thousands of volunteers who count birds, do surveys and send their data. Birds are probably among the best monitored groups of wildlife on the planet, and especially so in the UK. Knowing about the problems is the first step. Then we have to prioritise our work to help those birds in greatest need.”

Formed in 1922, BirdLife International completes 100 years in September, when several events are scheduled. Says Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, chair of BirdLife Council: “Over the coming year, we are preparing for our 2022 Global Partnership Congress and our 100th Anniversary. With our planet’s existential crises becoming ever more acute, we are refining and distilling our strategy for the next decade, further integrating our key pillars of Species, Sites, Systems and Society to better bring our unique strengths as the most diverse global family of over 115 national Partners to bear in the battle to save the planet, her birds and her biodiversity.”

BirdLife funds and oversees several projects across the globe, with some successes. It also coordinates the process of evaluating the world’s bird species to inform the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species. It says one in eight species is threatened with extinction, 222 species are in Critically Endangered category and 40 species were moved to a higher threat category in its latest report. Humans are responsible for the threats to birds, a BirdLife analysis says: “Expanding and intensifying agriculture and forestry destroy and degrade habitats. Inadequately managed fisheries, ever-spreading infrastructure, invasive alien species, pollution and overexploitation all pose serious problems. Climate change, with impacts already visible, may be the most serious threat of all. These threats have deeper causes, rooted in our failure to accord wild nature its true value.”

Need for constituencies of change

One Asian bird species moved to a higher threat category is the Lesser Florican — a small bustard with distinctive twisted moustaches which inhabits lowland grasslands in western and central India. It was moved from the Endangered to Critically Endangered category, due to the widespread destruction of its grassland home. The BNHS and other local organisations have been working with farmers in one last area around Ajmer in Rajasthan where the species persists, to raise awareness and incentivise its protection. The BNHS project has reportedly managed to remove invasive trees from nearby former grasslands and to establish a community conservation reserve for organic low-intensity farming. “Of all the bird conservation crises in India this is the most urgent and yet the most neglected. We only have a few years to save this astonishing species, and BNHS needs all the support it can get to expand its valiant efforts,” says BirdLife’s Nigel Collar, who also serves as co-chair of the IUCN Bustard Specialist Group.

The threat to Lesser Florican is among many challenges to birds in India and south Asia, where ornithology was popularised by Salim Ali (1896-1987), often called the ‘Birdman of India’, whose legacy has been carried forward by a legion of experts and bird-watchers. There have been some successes, for example, to protect the Great Indian Bustard in Rajasthan, where it was the subject of hunting some decades ago. Bikram Grewal, India’s pre-eminent ornithologist and author of several books, regrets that birds have suffered due to the country’s overweening focus on preserving the tiger and other animals. He says: “India has been beset by various problems for many years and the environmental plans have always had to take a backseat. These have become worse on recent years, compounded by a burgeoning population, poverty and now the pandemic. India has always had a truly abysmal record on the conservation front, paying only lip-service and what little that exists is on the tiger front with it taking 90 per cent of an already meagre budget and the small amount paid by Birdlife or RSPB is far removed of what is actually required. It bodes very ill for the future which is already dire and we are uncertainly looking at a big crisis.”

The various global and national lists of concern reflect the ground reality that things are getting worse, says BirdLife. Particularly alarming is a sharp decline in many formerly common and widespread species, which is seen as a signal of wider environmental problems and of the erosion of biodiversity as a whole. Several global and inter-governmental agreements and conventions are in place but need to be implemented and realised. BirdLife’s analysis concludes that “though we are not yet investing nearly enough, effective conservation is easily affordable, and (given the benefits) a bargain. Moving forward we need to link biodiversity more clearly to people’s livelihoods and well-being, to build constituencies for change, and to look after both key sites and the wider landscape. Birds are showing the way, and also helping us to keep track of progress”.