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Conservation challenges

The misfortune that befell a colony of Asian open bill storks, South Asia’s familiar resident birds, in Assam in late-2007 during their breeding cycle points to the need to incorporate climate change perspectives in conservation. Unseasonal rain in Arrearjhar tricked the birds into laying eggs; but since the season was unfavourable, there was mass mortality of hatchlings as they fell off their nests in the downpour. The response of the Forest department to this distressing development was commendably prompt and efficient. The few surviving birds were saved under a rapid action project that was forged in partnership with the Wildlife Trust of India. Nets placed under nesting trees to rescue falling birds and the active involvement of the local community helped rehabilitate the survivors. The open bill episode should serve as a cautionary signal that breeding, migration, and survival of individual species, including those that are now plentiful, could be at risk from extreme and unexpected weather events. Wet spells, storms, floods, and drought may increase in frequency and intensity; such changes, coupled with other effects of an overall rise in temperature (the 20th century witnessed an average rise of 0.74 degree Celsius over the global mean) could affect many species. The situation demands proactive, interventional conservation strategies to protect biodiversity.

Preservation of viable habitats is vital for individual species, such as open bill storks, to help cope with tremendous pressures from climate change. As habitat characteristics change in response to climate, losing or acquiring plants and animals, some species will attempt to migrate to new locations more suitable for survival. There is some evidence that this realisation is dawning on governments and conservationists; they must now redouble their efforts to preserve key corridors that can host species and facilitate migratory shifts. In Climate Change and Biodiversity, a compilation of scientific articles, editors Thomas E. Lovejoy and Lee Hannah refer to habitat-altering human disturbance as a major factor that might reduce the room available for manoeuvring. Preventing the movement of species by fragmenting habitat and altering the nature of landscapes to suit human needs can affect the fate of many, as they encounter the fallout from climate change. While plants and animals may possess the genetic traits to survive some climate change, conservation success will essentially depend on the availability of viable landscapes they can occupy. Conservation programmes therefore must accelerate efforts to provide sufficient space in nature — and stop the degradation of habitat.

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