20 August,2015 09:14 AM IST | | Krutika Behrawala
With the Maharashtra government declaring the northern part of Thane Creek as a Flamingo Sanctuary last week, here’s a 360-degree view of what this means for the thriving ecosystem in our backyard
Factfile
What: Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary (reserved under Section 18 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972)
Where: The western bank of Thane creek between Airoli and Vashi bridges
Flamingo Sanctuary. Pic/Shadab Khan
Total Area covered: 1,691 hectares (16.9 sq km)
Break up: 143.16h (Mulund) + 257.35h (Vikhroli) + 94.92h (Bhandup) + 264.87h (Kanjurmarg) + 135.74h (Mandala) = 896h (mangrove cover along the western side of the creek); Creek area (partly exposed during low tide) = 795h
Number of flamingos: Around 20,000
Species: Lesser Flamingo and Greater Flamingo. Lesser Flamingo is more common with resident/breeding populations in India.
Flight path: They arrive in Mumbai by October/November and leave by early June (monsoon). They are believed to come from Gujarat and a few from the Middle East. BNHS is planning to do a PTT (Platform Transmitter Terminal) study about their flight path.
First sightings: Flamingos were first spotted and recorded in Sewri in 1994, and around the same time in Thane Creek.
Also spot: 200 bird species. This includes Oriental Stork, Black-headed Ibis, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Eurasian Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit, Caspian Tern, European Roller, Clamorous Reed Warbler and egret species like Night Heron and Little Heron.
Rare species: The Osprey, listed in Schedule I of Wildlife Protection Act, and the Greater Spotted Eagle, listed by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as Vulnerable.
Species: Lesser Flamingo and Greater Flamingo. More common is Lesser Flamingo with resident/breeding populations in India, and the major stronghold is in parts of Africa. Greater Flamingo is far more widespread species with populations even in the Middle-East.
Birds of Thane creek: Published by the Mangrove Cell under the Government of India-GIZ Project on Coastal and Marine Protected Areas (CMPA), this 60-page booklet penned by Sunjoy Monga is a first-of-its-kind documentation on the diversity of bird life in the creek.
Information courtesy: Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), Sunjoy Monga (naturalist, writer, photographer) and N Vasudevan (Chief Conservator of Forests, Mangrove Cell, Mumbai)
Voices
Documentary filmmaker, In The Pink (2007)
This is good news as it protects an area with important faunal species as well as mangrove forests. This protection enables more science around the ecosystem to take place, and good science it at the heart of good conservation practice. Protection and conservation also increase awareness among so many of Mumbai's residents who still have not seen these mangroves or the flamingos! It isn't just the flamingos but understanding the importance of this ecosystem that enables over 200 species of birds to feed there.
Sunjoy Monga
Naturalist, writer, photographer
N Vasudevan
Chief Conservator of Forests, Mangrove Cell, Mumbai
Bahar Dutt
Environmental journalist, author
Dr Deepak Apte
Director, BNHS-India
It is a good initiative. BNHS welcomes this positive move by the Government. Thane creek is a roosting area for flamingos while Sewri is the feeding area. If the feeding grounds are left unprotected, roosting areas will ultimately be left vacant. In order to offer complete protection to flamingos, even Sewri should be declared as a protected area.