BNHS to take part in Asian Waterbird Census

Mumbai: Welcoming 2026, the Bombay Natural History Society is set to celebrate the New Year in a unique way. BNHS will be participating in the Annual Waterbird Census (AWC) of the Wetland International South Asia (WISA).

The AWC will help to monitor the migratory waterbirds and collect the data to understand the trends of waterbirds migration and status of the wetlands. The AWC was initiated first in 1987 and continued for the last 38 years. 

This is a global exercise and is recognised as the longest-running citizen-science programme dedicated to the conservation of waterbirds and wetlands across the region. 

The AWC will be held between 3 and 18 January, 2026.

Wetlands International South Asia (WISA) and the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) will be working under the guidance of Wetlands International Global Office for strengthening wetland conservation efforts.

“Wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems on Earth, supporting rich biodiversity and providing essential ecological services that are vital for both nature and humans”, said Kishor Rithe, Director, BNHS.

According to him, field implementation of the AWC is made possible through a strong collaborative network. 

The programme is led by AWC State Coordinators but we need the support of local birders, researchers, university students, and other dedicated contributors. 

BNHS has written a letter to all the Chief Wildlife Wardens and the Head of Forest Force of state Forest departments to facilitate participation of forest staff in data collection as well as in conducting the census in the entire country. National Biodiversity Authority has already instructed all the state and Union territory Biodiversity Boards to provide support to this AWC by involving the village level Biodiversity Management Committees in this nationwide citizen science exercise.

Dr P Sathiyaselvem, Deputy Director, BNHS and senior scientist who is heading Central Asian Flyway programme in India said that several wetlands have recorded changes in waterbird populations due to aquatic habitat degradation. “This exercise will help to understand the present status of our wetland ecosystems and hence monitoring waterbird populations will be crucial for their conservation and restoration. This data will be used to prepare the national action plans and concerted action plans at global level,” he stated further. Dhruv Varma, who is a senior technical officer of WISA explained that the BNHS IBCN coordinators and AWC state coordinators will train/coordinate and sensitize the local birders and conduct systematic waterbird counts and wetland assessments. These surveys will be carried out between the first and third week of January, and the bird counts will be accepted from December 2025 onwards to the end of February 2026, he stated further.

Why is it important?

The AWC’s scientific and conservation value is widely recognised at the national and international levels. The programme has been identified as an important waterbird monitoring initiative under Component 5 of India’s National Action Plan for the Conservation of Migratory Birds and their Habitats along the Central Asian Flyway (CAF), which aims to strengthen the management of sites of ornithological importance.

Findings will help many

AWC data have made significant contributions to conservation planning and policy formulation. The results have supported the development of national action plans, including India’s National Action Plan for Conservation of Migratory Birds and their Habitats along the CAF (2018–2023), informed the designation of Ramsar Sites (wetlands of international importance), and guided wetland management programmes. Additionally, the findings have contributed to several multilateral environmental agreements, such as the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS).