Six years ago, a group of schoolboys of Khalisha Belpukur village of Saidpur upazila, took an auspicious initiative to conserve birds setting artificial nests where their feathered friends could lay eggs and incubate them comfortably.

Now anyone paying a visit to the village or the adjacent villages will be amazed to see the abundance of birds in the area. The nests made of earthen pitchers have provided safe havens for the birds and have proven to be a catalyst for increasing bird populations in the area.

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The initiators said that they came up with the idea seeing that there was a dearth of large trees in the area and some birds do not prefer the trees of foreign origin.

In course of time, their initiative has turned into a movement with the participation of people from all walks of life.

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change rewarded the boys for their contribution to conserving birds a couple of years ago.

Alamgir Hossain, leader of the boys, said, “Six years ago while visiting our orchard in the village, I noticed that birds looking for suitable trees for making nests but failing to find those.”

People randomly fell large trees to make a quick profit or plant trees of foreign origin, which birds do not prefer making nests, he added.

Being concerned, Alamgir discussed the matter with his friends to do something for the birds. Later, they formed an organisation titled ‘Setubandhan,’ symbolizing the linkage between humans and birds.

Raising funds on their own, they purchased earthen pitchers and ropes setting them in tilted position on branches of trees in the area. They stuffed dry leaves and straw inside the pitchers on the host trees.

Birds, particularly of local species, namely wagtails, doves, owls, mynas, shrikes made the pitchers their homes laying eggs and raising hatchlings.

“We also hold awareness-raising programmes in schools and house yards, hang signboards and posters in crowded places spreading the message to conserve birds for saving the environment,” he added.

Ahsan Habib, (23), a member of Setubandhan, said, they have expanded the area of their movement to the adjacent villages and also rescue sick and wounded birds which become victims of natural calamity or unwanted incidents.

Chairman of Saidpur Upazila Parishad Moksedul Momin said that they extend support to Setubandhan whenever it requires and have requested the livestock department to treat sick or wounded birds.

Bird watcher Shahin Zajangir Alam expressed satisfaction seeing the affinity of the birds with the people of the area.

The birds can be seen loitering closer to humans fearlessly.

Deputy Commissioner of Nilphamari Hafizur Rahman Chowdhury said, “We’ve taken steps to set up a wildlife rescue and treatment centre in Saidpur soon.”



‘Setubandhan’ building bridge between birds and humans
Source: Trend Viral Philippines