MoU inked for protection and conservation of Manipur’s Loktak Lake

A two-day workshop on the identification of waterbirds and counting techniques is being held at Mangolnganbi College in Manipur’s Ningthoukhong town on January 28 and 29

For the first time in Northeast India, Indian Bird Conservation Network (IBCN) Manipur on Saturday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with eight colleges in the northeastern border state for the “protection and conservation” of Loktak, the largest freshwater lake in the region.

According to the 2017 census, only around 5,000 birds of 17 species were spotted against the sighting of 47,088 birds of 68 species in 2016 at Loktak Lake (Representative Photo)

The state coordinator of IBCN and principals of eight Manipur colleges were present during the signing of the MoU, held on the sideline of inaugurating a two-day workshop on identification and counting techniques of waterbirds here at Mangolnganbi College Ningthoukhong premises, 35 km south of Imphal.

“We’re signing this historic MoU to protect and conserve Loktak, which is a wetland of international importance as a ‘social and scientific responsibility’ as part of the citizen science programs,” said state coordinator RK Birjit of IBCN.

“The move is to extend cooperation in research collaborations and other academic activities apart from other initiatives such as annual mid-waterbird census etc,” he added.

IBCN Manipur had officially been tracking the Loktak waterbird census activities for the last 15 years as a part of the Asian waterbird count. The next census will be conducted on February 5 this year at 50 different counting sites at Loktak Lake.

According to the 2017 census, only around 5,000 birds of 17 species were spotted against the sighting of 47,088 birds of 68 species in 2016 at Loktak Lake

“The population of the birds visiting the lake is under active monitoring, but species diversification is encouraging,” Birjit observed, adding, “Yes, we’ve spotted many rare species.”

According to Kumbi College ex-principal K Jugeshwar Singh, who was also present at the MoU signing, a wetland is considered internationally important if it supports a minimum of 20,000 populations of waterbirds.

“So the monitoring of visit/arrival of the migratory waterbirds from other places of the world and their subsequent (waterbirds) census at Loktak is very essential,” said Jugeshwor, who is also honorary wildlife warden of Manipur’s Bishnupur district, where the lake is located.