The Race to Save the Amur Falcons in Nagaland, Northeast India
by Ramki Sreenivasan
November, 2016
Another dramatic, action-filled year passes. Just like in 2013, 2014 and 2015, there continues to be no killings of Amur Falcons during the recently concluded migratory season along the Doyang reservoir, Nagaland. Their numbers were at all-time record levels!
Killing fields
October 2016 marked five years since the massacre of hundreds of thousands of falcons were discovered and reported in Nagaland — that led to a major global outcry and the start of a conservation campaign.
The team (members from Conservation India and NWBCT) reported that this was probably the single largest congregation of raptors recorded anywhere in the world and it was tragic that they were being harvested in huge numbers. They estimated, conservatively, that a mind-boggling 120,000 to 140,000 birds were being slaughtered every year during their passage through the state.
See the full campaign below:
Marathon migrant
In October every year, huge numbers of Amur falcons arrive in northeast India from Siberia en route to their final destination — Somalia, Kenya and South Africa. This handsome little raptor has one of the longest migration routes of all birds, doing up to 22,000 km in a year! The birds are unusual in that they migrate a large distance over the sea and also continue their journey at night. Also they are also wholly insectivorous.
Hunting process
The falcons spend the day on the transmission wires (almost entirely inaccessible to hunters) and descend to forested patches along the banks of the Doyang reservoir to roost. The hunters ruthlessly exploit this particular behavior and set-up huge fishing nets (30–40m long, 10–12m tall) all over the roosting sites.
Sale
Each bird is sold for a price between Rs. 16–25 (always sold as number of birds for Rs. 100 ($ 1.9 / £ 1.2). This sale usually happens door-to-door in Pangti village (where most hunters are from) as well as nearby Doyang and Wokha towns.
The team at Conservation India quickly created a campaign urging the national and international wildlife community to notice and take action:
Post reporting of this incident, and the subsequent national and international outcry, the Indian and Nagaland government took notice and rolled out several conservation initiatives.
Conservation Initiatives
NWBCT, the lead NGO (and the only one based in Pangti village — the epicenter of the killings), launched a comprehensive community outreach and children’s education programme in 5 villages including Pangti. The initiative was called ‘Friends of the Amur Falcon’.
Chief Minister visits Doyang
In November 2013, To extend his support to the ongoing conservation efforts and to witness first hand the Amur Falcon spectacle, the Nagaland Chief Minister Mr. Neiphiu Rio visited Doyang.
He personally witnessed the spectacle of migrating Amur Falcon congregations and was truly delighted. He photographed them for over two hours. He later addressed the assembled community members, thanked them for their spectacular conservation efforts and listened to Amur Falcon songs sung by our (NWBCT’s) ecoclub members!
The CM was very supportive and repeatedly emphasized the importance of the ongoing education and awareness drives needed to sustain the outcome.
Joint conservation effort
It has been a spectacular and unique turnaround since, with all stakeholders joining hands and bringing the killings to an end. It has been an emotional journey for Nagaland and its people to adopt the falcons as source of pride.
The government, the forest department, local NGOs and, most importantly, the local communities extended their conservation efforts for the third year to ensure there were no trapping or killing of the birds.
Community Ownership
Over the years, ownership of falcon conservation has significantly gone up in the local community. The community-led Amur Falcon Roosting Areas Union (AFRAU), which set up check posts and carried out patrolling in 2014, has become a self-contained initiative with some external funding support from the government and NGOs. They lead events in the community related to the falcons, and keep up round-the-clock patrolling efforts during the season.
An example of local ownership was clearly demonstrated when our team was visiting a remote bank of the reservoir by boat. We found a few Amur Falcons stuck in an old discarded fishing net. Most of the birds were still alive and it was the flutter that caught our attention. We called the union staff (who have a resting shed on the main road near the roost) and in less than 15-minutes a fisherman posted nearby was despatched to the location to cut the nets and release the birds. The net was removed from the location.
A remark by our guide, ex-hunter Thungdemo Yanthan, one morning while returning from routine patrolling, sums up the community’s newfound responsibility: “Now that we know the distance these birds fly to survive, we see them through very different eyes. We feel very protective towards them”.
Conservation Education
A constant in the “Friends of the Amur Falcon” programme are the educators and students of the Ecoclubs. Over 100 children have been introduced to wildlife conservation in these Ecoclubs that cover five villages. Their presence in the villages have become a matter of pride for the community as they relate to them as their commitment to conserve the falcons.
The objectives of the Ecoclubs, now in its fourth year, have remained focussed on:
- Introduction to Amur Falcon, its ecology, its importance, the threats and the need to conserve it. And how the community can help.
- Introduction to natural history and how to observe it. Introduction to other fauna and build curiosity — birds, insects, moths and butterflies, amphibians and reptiles, etc.
- Plan year-round activities the Ecoclubs can conduct after the workshops.
This year, at the peak of the migration season, a four day conservation education refresher workshop was held for educators and students by Sanjay Sondhi, of Titli Trust and Payal Molur of Go Wild Foundation.
Ecotourism to sustain conservation
Tourism is slowly emerging as a meaningful livelihood opportunity. In hindsight, the decision not to focus on tourism in years after the killings was a wise one as it would have raised financial expectations with a potentially deadly backlash. Now, with solid conservation commitment from all parties, the time is ripe for ecotourism. Tourism can make conservation sustainable in a more organic way than the (failed) attempts at compensation for non-hunting. Since 2013, NWBCT has been bringing small groups (including school students) and has been coordinating various low-key activities along with its partners to kick-off this initiative.
Ex-hunters can be guides, boatmen, homestay owners, cab drivers, etc. As we are already seeing in the last couple of years, it would not be difficult to attract domestic and global birdwatchers and wildlife photographers to come and watch this unparalleled spectacle of raptor congregations in the scenic backdrop of the Doyang Reservoir. Nowhere in the world do raptors congregate in greater numbers than in Doyang in winter.
Local Naga tourists are adding to the slow but steady visitors from outside the state. Hopefully, this would help them appreciate the phenomenon and cement their support for the cause. It would be commendable if global birding groups could visit this region during the upcoming migratory season/s to show support for one of the greatest conservation turnarounds ever.
First Union Minister Visits Doyang!
Adding more momentum and solidarity to the conservation efforts, Union Minister of State for Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Mr. Prakash Javadekar visited Doyang on Nov 16th, 2015 to witness the falcon migration. Javadekar was the First Union Minister to visit the Doyang Reservoir — a significant milestone for the state!
Applauding the community conservation efforts, Javadekar announced that the central government will soon develop the Doyang reservoir as an ecotourism destination for birdwatchers and nature lovers across the world.
“The world has recognised Pangti village as the world’s Amur Falcon capital. More than one million birds can be seen in just 30 minutes. It is a very rare and exciting sight indeed”, Javadekar said.
The union minister said the centre and state government would jointly work to promote infrastructure and ecotourism in the entire Amur Falcon roosting areas in Nagaland. This political support (from the central government) for the cause from the centre is vital for the future of this programme.
If planned and executed well, low-key ecotourism could help cement wildlife conservation in the area while addressing fishermen (ex-hunter) livelihoods.
Going one step further, seeing how the Amur Falcon has become synonymous with conservation in the state, a successful ecotourism strategy will greatly impact conservation initiatives in other community conservation areas across the Nagaland.
While it is still early, and anecdotal, the team is definitely seeing a trickle effect of stopping Amur Falcon hunting on overall birdlife. NWBCT members as well as other birdwatchers are seeing more birds while out on falcon counts, including birds never recorded before in the area. As the team had originally envisioned, could the Amur Falcon be the torchbearer for overall conservation in the state and the region?
Tracking the Incredible Journey of the Amur Falcon
In November 2013, a joint mission to satellite tag Amur Falcons was initiated by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in collaboration with Nick Williams, Head of the Coordinating Unit of the Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Birds of Prey in Africa and Eurasia (Raptors MOU); Hungarian ornithologists Peter Fehervari, Szabolcs Solt, and Peter Palatitz; and the Nagaland State Forest Department.
Three falcons were satellite-tagged. One male was named Naga in short for Nagaland; one female was named Wokha after the name of the district which is globally important for its roost site; and a second female was named Pangti after the village located in Wokha district and in recognition of the efforts made by the people of Pangti to protect these falcons. The birds were fitted with the state-of-the-art 5 gram Solar-Powered PTT (Microwave Telemetry Inc.), like a backpack using a specially made teflon harness, and released in the morning of November 7.
Now into the third year, ‘Naga’ alone has an active chip, and will return to India for the third consecutive year, clocking more than 60,000 km — nothing short of incredible!
Closing Thoughts
As another season ends and the last of the falcons leave Nagaland for Africa, it is only pertinent to reflect that a state infamous for its indiscriminate and widespread hunting of wildlife now stands with its head held high for one of conservation’s greatest turnarounds. To sustain this will be a slow and involving process with the community.
Seeing how the Amur Falcon has become synonymous with conservation in the state in a short period, can this success and cheer spread and create conservation initiatives in other community conservation areas across the state?
More so as visitors to the area increase as a result of publicity around the phenomenon of this unique migration.
Thank you.
