Pictorial highlights

World Migratory Bird Day is a global initiative to raise awareness for the need to conserve all migratory birds. Events range from bird festivals, education programmes and bird watching trips to watch bird migration in action.

Every year it focuses on a different topic. This year's theme 'Save migratory birds in crisis - every species counts!' - is raising awareness about Globally Threatened migratory birds, with a particular focus on those on the very edge of extinction - the Critically Endangered.

“International collaboration is the only way to conserve migratory birds as they pass along their flyways” —Dr Marco Lambertini, BirdLife’s Chief Executive

Ministry of Environment’s Pakistan Wetlands Programme also observed this day with school children to raise awareness about migratory birds and especially the theme of the World Migratory Bird Day 2010 ‘Save migratory birds in crisis - every species counts!'

Children showed a great interest in this event. The activities were included bird watching, art competition in the school, poster on Rawal Lake's birds, involving school children and media environment journalists’ forum. We also showed them environment song with pictures which they liked it and this really sensitized them.

Migration is a natural process, whereby different birds fly over distances of hundreds to thousands of kilometers in order to find the best ecological conditions and habitats for feeding, breeding and raising their young. For instance, when the conditions in the breeding grounds become very difficult due to low temperatures migratory birds would fly to a region where conditions are less rough. There are many different migration patterns. Most birds migrate from northern breeding areas in the summer, to southern wintering grounds. The Central Asian Flyway covers the areas used by species of birds with the main migratory routes through Central Asia. The flyway area extends through 21 countries from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Indian Ocean in the south. It overlaps with both the African-Eurasian flyways in the west and the East Asian Australasian flyways in the East. This famous route from Siberia to various destinations in Pakistan over Karakorum, Hindo Kush and Suleiman Ranges along Indus River down to the delta is known as International Migratory Bird Route number 4. It is also called as the “Green Route” or more commonly “Indus Flyway”. The birds from north spend winters in different wetlands and deserts of Pakistan, which are distributed almost throughout the country from the high Himalayas to coastal mangroves and mud flats in the Indus delta. And, after winters they go back to their native habitats.


Ministry of Environment’s Pakistan Wetlands Programme WWF
nimalik@wwf.org.pk