The Hindu : Karnataka News : Kokkre Bellur, a model for conservation efforts

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 03, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

Kokkre Bellur, a model for conservation efforts

By R. Krishna Kumar

A pair of pelicans at Kokkre Bellur.

MYSORE, MARCH 2. The people of Kokkre Bellur in Mandya district have shown the way in conservation of birds that is now drawing the attention of professional bodies from across the world.

Kokkre Bellur is renowned for pelicans conserved by the villagers who brook no interference with or disturbance to the birds. The conservation values have been nurtured by committed non-governmental organisations such as Mysore Amateur Naturalists (MAN), which has worked and documented the process for 10 years. The result is the pelicans have made Kokkre Bellur a nesting spot and the number of nests has increased from 160 to 250 this year.

Success story

The success story of pelican conservation has now caught the imagination of ornithologists and conservation bodies who describe Kokkre Bellur as a "role model" for all future conservation efforts entailing co-existence of different species.

K. Manu of MAN told The Hindu that the U.K.-based Birdlife International, whose network spreads across 100 countries, has evinced interest in community participation in the conservation of birds, which is the hallmark of the Kokkere Bellur experiment. The Asia-Pacific chief of Birdlife International recently visited the village and left convinced that the key to future conservation practices lay in Kokkre Bellur. Likewise, Birdlife International has identified Kichen in Rajasthan as another model where the Baishnov community hand-feeds saras cranes and ensures their conservation.

Boost

This has come as a boost to local conservation efforts, and the remote village of Kokkre Bellur in Maddur taluk off the Bangalore-Mysore highway, 83 km from Bangalore, is now on the international map and is set to emerge as a must-visit in the itinerary of leading conservationists. Kokkre Bellur has a history of hundreds of years during which birds and the local community have shared the landscape in the spirit of mutual accommodation.

The villagers have forfeited their rights to harvest tamarind that is a source of income because they do not want to disturb the birds that have built nests on the trees. Mr. Manu pointed out the pelicans in turn have enriched the soil with their droppings that are rich in potassium and phosphate, which has helped the villagers increase their crop yield. It is reckoned that the village supported thousands of birds nearly 40 years ago but the number dwindled due to changing environment and eroding conservation values, and the pelicans became highly endangered. However, the villagers revived their links with nature and MAN stepped into nurture this relationship that has brought the pelicans back to Kokkre Bellur.

Endangered species

The spot-billed pelican (Pelicanus philippensis) is a highly endangered species and the annual mid-winter waterfowl census conducted by MAN and others indicate that there are 5,000 such birds in the wild, and hence, they require protection. A similar nesting site was found at Kaggaladu near Sira in Tumkur district, but the birds have abandoned the place owing to disturbance.

Untold misery

Mr. Manu said habitat destruction could cause untold misery to birds and reduce space for nesting. It requires the cooperation of villagers to accommodate the winged beauties in a diminishing space. Man-animal conflict is increasing owing to the growing population and pressure to tap the available resources as a result wildlife is being squeezed into a limited space. In such a scenario, the example set by the people of Kokkre Bellur comes as a relief, he said. The efforts by the villagers should be supplemented by saving the wetland around the region that is being degraded and destroyed. This will reduce the food available to pelicans and may inhibit their number.

The use of pesticides, which find their way to the wetland and enter the food chain, will have a deleterious impact on the pelicans' future. However, support from international bodies such as Birdlife International will only help strengthen the conservation practices of Kokkre Bellur.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka