Conservation Efforts for Terrestrial Bird Species Assemblages in the Central Indian Landscape
M. Niharika *
Forest Research Institute, Dehradun and Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal, India.
Advait Edgaonkar
Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Aims: The aim of this study is to examine the factors affecting avian conservation in the Central Indian Landscape (CIL).
Study Design: Cross-sectional online survey using structured, closed-category elicitation of predefined conservation effort categories, combined with open-ended questions on gaps, future priorities, and organisations involved.
Place and Duration of Study: The online survey was administered through Google Forms between 1 and 30 April 2022.
Methodology: This study used a structured survey to document the type, timing, and geographic focus of avian conservation efforts in the CIL, identifying perceived gaps and future priorities. The survey, distributed through snowball sampling, recorded responses across 17 predefined conservation effort categories, five time intervals, priority species, and priority districts (n = 37 respondents). Analysis was restricted to descriptive frequencies and percentages.
Results: Respondents reported 718 discrete instances of conservation activity, dominated by monitoring (58 instances, 78% of respondents), conservation action (55, 81%), and law enforcement (53, 73%), with reported activity peaking at 29% of instances in 2011 to 2015, overlapping with the institutional response to the Gyps vulture crisis. Awareness creation headed the perceived gap list (27%), and habitat management headed the future priority list (38%). Checklist selections were dominated by vultures, led by Gyps indicus (70%), Gyps bengalensis (68%), and Sarcogyps calvus (65%), while the unprompted naming of Athene blewitti by four respondents constituted the strongest independent signal of concern. District priority closely tracked existing protected area coverage.
Conclusion: These findings indicate that conservation attention in the landscape has been shaped substantially by institutional visibility and checklist composition.
Keywords: Systematic conservation planning, avian conservation, terrestrial birds, Central Indian Landscape, conservation priorities, conservation gaps, habitat management, vultures, Forest Owlet, stakeholder survey