BHUBANESWAR: The Hirakud Reservoir along with Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary has been accorded status of an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA).
After Nalabana Bird Sanctuary, Similipal, Satkosia, Bhitarkanika, Chandaka, Sunabeda and Mangalajodi, Hirakud-Debrigarh is the eighth approved IBA in Odisha. Earlier, it was on the potential IBA site list.
Under IBA Programme of Birdlife International, world’s largest wild bird conservation organisation, the reservoir and wildlife sanctuary have been listed as an important site for holding significant number of globally threatened species and having a global threshold population of waterfowl. Hirakud-Debrigarh is spread over Bargarh, Jharsuguda and Sambalpur districts.
Studies conducted between 2010 and 2014 had revealed presence of 319 bird species from Hirakud landscape which includes the sanctuary. As many as 112 species were found to be closely associated with wetlands. During the five-year period, as many as 112 waterfowl and water-dependent bird species were recorded including 15 threatened species. The winter bird census in 2016 had recorded 96,000 birds from 60 species in Hirakud Reservoir.
Odisha cadre IFS officer Manoj Nair, currently with Wildlife Institute of India (WII), who studied Hirakud-Debrigarh ecosystem along with ACF Saroj Kumar Panda and Ashish Kumar Pradhan of Sambalpur had published a research work that eventually helped inclusion of Hirakud-Debrigarh as an IBA, State Coordinator of Indian Bird Conservation Network (IBCN) Monalisa Bhujabal said.
Hirakud Wildlife Division staff and researchers from Sambalpur University annually enumerate bird species while Wild Orissa had also recommended inclusion of Hirakud-Debrigarh as an IBA in 2015. The studies have found presence of several colonies of ground-nesting birds including breeding of Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus, Oriental Pratincole Glareola maldivarum, Small Pratincole Glareola lactea, Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius, Little Tern Sterna albifrons and Red-wattled Lapwing Vanellus indicus in Hirakud-Debrigarh.
Similarly, occasional presence of three species such as Pallas’ Fish-eagle Haliaeetus leucoryphus, Greater Spotted Eagle Clanga clanga and Indian Spotted Eagles Clanga hastata indicates a healthy prey base, said Bhujabal, also secretary of Wild Orissa which is an organisational partner with IBCN.
The IBA programme helps guide implementation of national conservation strategies through the promotion and development of national protected area programmes.