Awareness programme with women folks in Manas.

Bengal Florican (Houbaropsis bengalensis) is a grassland bird, restricted to the terai grassland regions of the Indo-gangetic floodplain and the Brahmaputra floodplains in India. Once it was widely distributed from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, to the foothills of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh in India. Also found in Nepal and Cambodia. But due to its rapidly declining population IUCN has recently placed its status from endangered to critically endangered species. The Bengal Florican has been placed in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The present global population of Bengal Florican is below 1000 birds. Information on present population trend, distribution and habitat preferences of this critically endangered species are limited and lacking.

The main purpose of project will be to know the current population trend of Bengal florican and habitat preferences in Manas National Park and fill the knowledge gap about the species identified in the problem tree of Species Recovery Action plan under preparation. This study will be a kind of population monitoring in previously surveyed areas in addition to which survey will be carried out in new areas. Survey will be carried out mainly in the western part of Manas National Park during its breeding season. The number of floricans seen, sex and GPS location in each area will be noted. GIS based distribution map of floricans will be produced incorporating field data. Further, monitoring of Bengal Florican population in territories and its habitat characteristics will be continued throughout the year covering different seasons.

Study will further help to take management decisions for protection of the species and its key habitat. From our field experiences, we have found that general people hardly know about the importance of this species, and due to lack of awareness, direct or indirect harm to it has been going on even in the major stronghold of its habitat. Hence in order to create awareness among general public hoarding in local language will be installed in important places near Bengal Florican habitat and occasional conservation campaign programmes in selected areas of fringe schools will be organized.

Therefore, through this project message about the importance of Bengal Florican and its habitat will be spread through awareness among the local community to further strengthen the people’s participation in Bengal Florican conservation.