AR-News: (Asia) Nepal's Wetlands under Threat

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

KATHMANDU, Jan 30 (OneWorld) - On the eve of World Wetlands Day on February 
2, environmentalists in Nepal warn that conservation efforts are urgently 
needed to save the Himalayan kingdom's degraded wetlands which include four Ramsar 
sites, and attract migratory birds from across the world. 

According to Deependra Joshi, program officer at the World Conservation Union 
(IUCN-Nepal), "Even till the mid-1990s, 10,000 - 20,000 migratory birds like 
cranes used to come every year to east Nepal's Koshi Tappu wetland during 
December-February to escape the harsh winter of Siberia." 

But thanks to its unchecked degredation, Joshi adds that, "this figure has 
dropped substantially to 300-400." 

These migratory birds come from as far as 2500 - 2800 miles north. "There are 
some species of birds that are found to come here even from Europe," says 
Joshi. 




full story:

http://www.oneworld.net/article/view/77973/1/



"The world is a dangerous place,
not because of those who do evil,
but because of those who look on and do nothing.",
Albert Einstein

          /\  /\            
>' .' < 












    
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.envirolink.org/pipermail/ar-news/attachments/20040130/5e79d708/attachment.html