Seeks public, community reports of sightings, nesting sites and important habitats
The Nagaland Community Conserved Areas Forum (NCCAF) has launched a statewide appeal for information on hornbill sightings, nesting sites and important hornbill habitats to help build a comprehensive understanding of the species and strengthen community-based conservation efforts in Nagaland.
The forum has called on village councils, community conservation groups, forest-dependent communities, birdwatchers, photographers, students, researchers and members of the public to report hornbill sightings and nesting sites across the state.
NCCAF said Nagaland’s forests support several species of hornbills, which play an important ecological role as major seed dispersers and contribute to forest regeneration and the maintenance of healthy forest ecosystems.
However, much of the information on hornbills in Nagaland remains scattered across local knowledge, individual observations and isolated records, it said.
The initiative is being taken forward by NCCAF in collaboration with the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) as a knowledge partner, drawing on NCF’s experience in hornbill research, citizen science and community-based conservation in the Eastern Himalayas.
NCF runs the Hornbill Nest Adoption Programme in Arunachal Pradesh, where local communities identify, monitor and protect hornbill nesting trees on community land. According to NCCAF, the programme has helped more than 200 hornbill chicks successfully fledge through community protection of nesting sites.
NCF has also developed Hornbill Watch, a citizen-science initiative through which people across India can report hornbill sightings and photographs to improve knowledge of hornbill distribution, behaviour and important habitats.
NCCAF said it hopes to build on these experiences while developing an approach suited to Nagaland’s community-conserved landscapes, customary institutions and local knowledge systems.
The forum is particularly seeking information on active and previously used hornbill nests, locations where hornbills are regularly seen or heard, feeding and roosting areas, repeated sightings of pairs or family groups, photographs or videos showing nesting or breeding behaviour, and local or traditional knowledge concerning hornbill nesting trees and habitats.
NCCAF said people do not need to be bird experts to contribute, and encouraged the public to submit records even when they are uncertain about the species or whether a particular tree is being used for nesting.
Photographs, videos and location information are especially encouraged. GPS coordinates, Google Maps pins, village names or approximate locations, along with the date and time of observation, would help in verifying records, the forum said.
The information collected will be used by NCCAF and NCF to better understand hornbill distribution, nesting locations and important habitats across Nagaland. The records could also help identify sites for field verification and potential long-term community-based conservation initiatives.
Depending on the findings, conservation measures could include protection of important nesting trees, community-based monitoring of breeding sites, documentation of local ecological knowledge, identification of threats to nesting and feeding areas and strengthening habitat protection around important sites.
NCCAF and its knowledge partners are also exploring the potential use of artificial nest structures in suitable locations where appropriate nesting cavities are scarce. However, the forum said any such intervention would require assessment of habitat, species requirements and local conditions, along with technical guidance and the full participation and consent of the concerned community.
The forum has appealed to the public not to disturb suspected hornbill nests. People are advised not to climb nesting trees, approach cavities closely or otherwise interfere with breeding birds, and instead observe from a safe distance and submit photographs or location information.
NCCAF said precise locations of sensitive active nests would be kept confidential and would not be placed in the public domain. Such information may be shared, where necessary, with the concerned landowning community and NCF for legitimate conservation, research and monitoring purposes.
The forum also clarified that the initiative is not intended as an investigation into hunting. It said information submitted through the initiative would not be used to initiate action against individuals, families or villages on the basis of past hunting or other information disclosed through a hornbill record.
NCCAF further stated that no survey, monitoring exercise or field visit would be undertaken on community, clan or privately held land without prior consultation and approval from the appropriate village institution and concerned landowning clan, family or customary authority.
People with hornbill sightings, photographs, videos or information about nesting sites can contact NCCAF through WhatsApp at +91 9862000975 or email at nagalandccaforum @gmail.com or nccaf@outlook.com.
The appeal has been issued by NCCAF Chairman Heirang Lungalang and Secretary Sever R. Vadeo.
