The theme of this year’s Wildlife Week, which is being held from October 2 to 8, is ‘Wildlife Conservation through Coexistence.’ It is important to realise that wildlife is not something found only in forests but it is all around us. The next step in this endeavour is observing this wildlife and documenting it. The initiative titled, ‘Quest for Kaakan—Population Assessment of the White Bellied Sea Eagle’ by the Mineral Foundation of Goa (MFG), Goa Bird Conservation Network (GBCN) in association with the Goa State Biodiversity Board (GSBB) and Goa Forest Department (GFD) which is funded by Persistent Foundation, is one such step.
White Bellied Sea Eagles are monogamous, which means they mate for life and uses the same nest for breeding year on year. It also needs tall trees close to the coast. Through this citizen science initiative, people are encouraged to watch and document nests of these eagles, which are usually found near the coastline. The data will be shared through an online form.
Parag Rangnekar, who is a Programme Manager at Mineral Foundation of Goa and also founding member of Goa Bird Conservation Network mentions that the latest India’s Bird report from 2023 shows a declining trend in the population of White Bellied Sea Eagle in the country. “It is important to understand the local trends in population so as to figure out the factors for the decline. The study will help us understand a lot more about the Eagle than we already know. What is its population? How many nesting pairs are in the State? Are they spread across the coastline or are in certain specific areas?” states Parag.
This survey will answer questions like do they prefer a particular species of tree? Is the presence or absence of tall trees along the coast a problem? Are the trees on private property or community lands? “The collected data will help us formulate conservation strategies for the ‘tiger of the coast’ if you can call the bird that. Can the tree be part of the People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR) of the respective Biodiversity Management Committees (BMC)? Can the BMC talk to the land owners to protect the tree and conversely the bird,” elaborates Parag.
White Bellied Sea Eagle which is locally known as ‘Kaakan’ is a bird of prey. They are an important species of raptors who feed on fish, sea snakes and sometimes also waterfowl. Thus, the health of coast is of utmost importance. But sadly our beaches are marred with pollution. So, does this hamper this bird?
Parag informs that there is no current data to prove this. He says, “Once this study is done and we have a basic understanding of the bird and its distribution, we could think of gathering further data on its breeding biology and other anthropogenic pressures on its habitat.”
Aditya Kakodkar, State Coordinator, WWF-INDIA Goa State Office, maintains that this survey is crucial as White Bellied Sea eagle is an important raptor found in South East Asia from the coast of India to Australia. “As a coastal bird, its population estimate can help in gauging health of the marine food web. As a large bird it needs substantial amount of food, and the presence of a breeding pair, in an area indicates sufficient amount of its prey,” says Aditya.
He also points out that according to International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) list it is not considered threatened, but its population may be declining due to lack of nesting habitats which include large trees on the coast and disturbance from human activities. “A citizen led data collection initiative will certainly help in understanding the species in a much better way,” he adds.
“It is the local community which can be the real custodians and protectors of our biodiversity and that is the reason we are involving the BMC from all the coastal villages as well as other stakeholders working in the coastal and marine space. Citizen science has the power to collect data and aid in conservation as has been demonstrated earlier through portals such as eBird. Hopefully in the near future, we will see more such projects on varied taxa in the State,” concludes Parag.
(Arti Das is a freelance journalist based in Goa who writes about art, culture, and ecology)