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Bird Conservation Nepal

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Bird Conservation Nepal
नेपाल पंक्षी संरक्षण सङ्घ
Formation1982
Purposeconservation of birds, their habitats and site
HeadquartersKathmandu, Nepal
Region
Nepal
Parent organization
BirdLife International[1]
Staff22[1]
Websitewww.birdlifenepal.org

Bird Conservation Nepal (Nepali: नेपाल पंक्षी संरक्षण सङ्घ) (BCN), also known as BirdLife Nepal, is a non-profit organisation founded in Nepal focusing on the conservation of birds.[2] It was founded in 1982 and the first president was Harisaran Kazi.[3][4] It has a membership of 912 people.[1] It is a partner organizations of BirdLife International.

History

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Bird Conservation Nepal was originally established in the 1970's by conservationists Kazi Dai and Karna Sakya as the Nepal Bird Watching Club.[5] It was formally founded in 1982 as Bird Conservation Nepal.[6] It was appointed as the Country Representative for Birdlife International in 1994.[7]: 77 

In 2006, the organization created Panchhi Sansar, a radio program in Nepal about bird conservation.[7]: 77 

In 2012, as part of International Vulture Awareness Day, the BCN ran a photography contest for Nepalese birdwatchers. The winning photograph was that of a snowcock.[8]

Projects

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White-rumped vulture conservation

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In the 1990's, the BCN participated in attempts to prevent White-rumped vultures from being exposed to diclofenac, a drug sometimes used on livestock. In 2007, they created a series of "vulture restaurants", including the Jatayu vulture restaurant, to provide the vultures with carrion uncontaminated by diclofenac.[9][10] To acquire clean food for the vultures, the BCN bought ill cattle from local villagers that had not been treated with diclofenac. They paid US$3 per animal, and then used culture-safe painkillers on them.[11] Vulture nesting activity increased near the feeding stations.[9] To increase tourism, viewing stations were set up near the stations[9][10] and tourists were allowed to parahawk with the birds, the proceeds of which BCN used to fund their activities.[12] In 2008, they created a vulture breeding centre[13] in Chitwan National Park. BCN originally planned to stock the centre with 10 breeding pairs of white-rumped vultures and Slender-billed vultures captured during the early spring.[14] In 2017, released the first set of captive-born vultures into Nepal and tracked them. After a year in the wild, none of the birds had been killed by diclofenac.[10]

In the mid 2000's, the BCN worked with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds to give Nepalese farmers alternatives to diclofenac.[11]

BCN maintains a database of tagged vultures in Nepal.[15]

Bird counts

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The BCN conducts an annual census of migratory birds living in nature reserves in Nepal. It also regularly surveys birds near Kathmandu, Pokhara,[16] as well as in Important Bird Areas[7]: 74  and bird habitats near major infrastructure projects.[16] In 2005, they performed the first local survey of pheasants in the Pipar Pheasant Reserve.[17]

In 2022, BCN created the birdwatching app Chhimeki Chara (Nepali: छिमेकी चरा), which allowed its users to submit data on birds they saw in Nepal for a bird count modeled after the Great Backyard Bird Count.[18][19]

Publications

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  • Pheasant Conservation Action Plan for Nepal (2019-2023), 2022[16]
  • The State of Nepal's Birds 2010, Indicators for our changing world, 2011.[6]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Nepal - Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN)". www.birdlife.org. BirdLife International. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  2. ^ "Bird Conservation Nepal records 13,749 birds in Valley". The Himalayan Times. January 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  3. ^ "About Us". www.birdlifenepal.org. Bird Conservation Nepal. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  4. ^ "Bird, biodiversity conservation learning centre in Ranibari". The Himalayan Times. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  5. ^ Suwal, Rajendra N (2022-12-08). "Remembering Nepal's Bird Man, Kazi Dai". Nepali Times. Retrieved 2025-03-20.
  6. ^ a b Olesen, Bjorn; Lai, Fanny (2018). Asia's Wildlife: A Journey to the Forests of Hope. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 9781462919925.
  7. ^ a b c Acharya, K.P.; Dhakal, Maheshwor, eds. (2012). Biodiversity Conservation in Nepal:A Success Story. Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation.
  8. ^ "Early birds get the prize". Nepali Times. No. 623. September 2012. Archived from the original on 2020-09-26.
  9. ^ a b c Unwin, Mike (2011). The Atlas of Birds: Diversity, Behavior, and Conservation. Princeton University Press. p. 123.
  10. ^ a b c "Nepal's Endangered Vultures Are Finally Making a Comeback | Audubon". Audubon. 2018-12-10. Retrieved 2025-03-20.
  11. ^ a b Shrestha, Deepesh (2007-12-26). "Vulture 'restaurant' aims to revive bird's population". The Windsor Star. Agence France-Presse. p. 21. Retrieved 2025-03-20.
  12. ^ "Dining with vultures". Nepali Times. 2014-03-09. Archived from the original on 2014-03-09. Retrieved 2025-03-20.
  13. ^ Preiss, Danielle (2017-08-13). "People In Nepal Used To Think Vultures Were Bad Luck. Not Anymore". NPR. Retrieved 2025-03-20 – via Texas Public Radio.
  14. ^ Buncome, Andrew (2008-01-16). "Nepal plans to breed vultures in captivity to save dying species". The Independent. p. 23. Retrieved 2025-03-20.
  15. ^ Joshi, Abhaya Raj (2023-05-26). "Nepal's hydropower boom is killing birds via power lines". Mongabay. Retrieved 2025-03-20.
  16. ^ a b c Bhattarai, Sewa (2020-02-07). "The Great Trans-Himalayan Bird Migration". Nepali Times. Retrieved 2025-03-20.
  17. ^ Singh, Rishi (2005-05-24). "Nepali team's first survey of pheasants". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 2025-03-20.
  18. ^ Joshi, Abhaya Raj (2022-03-23). "Bird-counting app kindles interest in Nepal's rich avian life". Mongabay. Retrieved 2025-03-20.
  19. ^ Acharya, Maheshwar (2022-02-21). "Bird-counting in Nepal made easy". Nepali Times. Retrieved 2025-03-20.
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