A swamp francolin at the NEIST campus in Jorhat. Picture by Mantu Bhuyan

Jorhat, Aug. 27: A pastime for scientist Mantu Bhuyan of North East Institute of Science and Technology (NEIST) has turned out to be a discovery that has excited the research institute to the extent that it is now seeking important bird area (IBA) status from BirdLife International, UK.

Bhuyan, an ardent bird watcher, who got interested in birds frequenting the 130acre campus of the research institute, decided to document and write a book on them when he chanced upon a family of swamp francolins roosting in an isolated corner of the campus.

The swamp francolin is listed by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as vulnerable. There are less than 20,000 of them in the world.

Although endemic to the Brahmaputra and Ganga basins, the swamp francolin, which looks like a partridge with a distinctly rufous orange throat, is very elusive and usually not found in an urban area.

“I would wander through the campus fascinated by the large number of birds that I frequently sighted and decided that I’d register as many as I could on my camera beyond office hours and write a book on them. I had been encouraged by a former scientist of the institute, D.C. Goswami, who always asked me to document them after I had published a book on the 70 species of butterflies found in the campus,” he said.

Bhuyan said more than 100 species of trees grow on the campus and there is tall grass as well.

He said when he found 55-60 species, he showed them to then director P.G. Rao, who asked him to go ahead with the work as a project for the institute.

The publication cost of the book was borne by the institute. Bhuyan collated 108 species, nearly 8.2 per cent of the 1,220 species available in India. Assam has about 800 species.

“With the discovery of the swamp francolins (I saw about four of them between December and February), the institute decided to apply to BirdLife International through the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), Mumbai as the sighting of a vulnerable forest species in an urban area is rare,” he said.

If approved, NEIST could become the first urban area in the world to be given such a status.

BirdLife International has 120 country partners and affiliates. In India, BNHS is their country partner.

Asad R. Rahmani, BNHS director for India, said after five years of consultation with other organisations and government officials, BNHS had identified 466 important bird areas in 2004.

If the site inside NEIST fulfils the criteria, it can become an IBA as well. “We are revising our IBA book that came out in 2004. We will assess the campus of NEIST based on existing information and decide whether it fulfils the IBA criteria or not. I am sure it will fulfil the criteria,” he said.

Rahmani said NEIST could be an example for other campuses to follow. “The swamp francolins and about eight species of forest woodpeckers and barbels found on the campus indicate its environmental health,” he said. D. Ramaiah, NEIST director, said the campus had become an example of conservation and was promoting the concept of campus biodiversity to the nation and the world.

T. Ramasami, former director general of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, said other institutions could emulate the practices of CSIR-NEIST and “it would be a case of Assam teaching the rest of India and the world.”