Nature Forever Society

The Common Bird Monitoring of India program, is a pioneer project and the first of its kind in the India. Launched in Mumbai, India. on the occasion of World Sparrow Day on 20 March 2012, its objective is to monitor common birds found in India.

The program is aimed at monitoring, through detailed mapping, the 18 common bird species found across the country such as the house sparrows, house crow, rock pigeon and rose-ringed parakeet, as well as the lesser known ashy prinia and hoopoe.

It is a unique project because it is by the people, for the people and of the people. In addition to India, the project also aims to help map the common bird species in the entire Indian subcontinent, including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

World Sparrow Day is an initiative to celebrate March 20th every year as World Sparrow Day. World Sparrow Day was first celebrated in 2009. In less than three years, WSD has become very popular and is celebrated in more than 50 countries around the world. It is also gaining popularity in Europe and parts of South Asia.

The World Sparrow Day website has a large collection of photos and information about the twenty-two species of sparrows found around the world.

The Nature Forever Society proposed to the Delhi government that the house sparrow be declared the state bird of Delhi. At a campaign "Rise for the Sparrows" aimed at conserving the species, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit declared the sparrow as the “state bird” of Delhi on August 14, 2012.

Rise for the Sparrow aims to inspire, empower and involve the citizens, schools, educational organisations, government agencies, NGOs and practically anyone who is interested in contributing towards conservation of sparrows and other common birds. It aims to achieve this by providing simple choices which can be undertaken by citizens and organisations from diverse backgrounds.

To involve citizens in the conservation movement and get them emotionally attached to the cause of conservation, the Nature Forever Society initiated a program where people could adopt a nest box and/or bird feeder. By doing this they would not only provide a habitat for the birds to nest in their homes but also get attached to the cause.

So far a large number of nest boxes and bird feeders have been adopted from across the country and taking inspiration from NFS, numerous organisations and individuals have initiated this across the country.

Nature Forever Society, in association with the Burhani Foundation, implemented project SOS where 52,000 bird feeders were distributed across the world to save sparrows and other common birds. The project was recognised by the Guinness Book of World records for the highest distribution of bird feeders in the world. “Ours is a fight to conserve not just the diminishing sparrow count around the world, but to save all the common birds and biodiversity found in our immediate environment, which are often overlooked and abused by virtue of being too commonplace,” said Dilawar.

Nature Forever Society launched its first Sparrow Awards on 20 March 2011 to honour unsung environmental heroes who have been silently making a difference. From the numerous nominations received from across the country, four winners (three individuals and one organisation) are selected for the NFS Sparrow Awards from diverse fields and backgrounds.

NFS had noticed that in the conservation field, the best known conservationists consistently receive accolades for their good work, however there were many others who make consistent efforts to save the environment but are not applauded. The sentiment behind launching the Sparrow Awards was to honour such people and applaud their silent efforts.

NFS aspires to make the Sparrow Awards one of the most prestigious awards one could hold, very tough to attain and inspirational to retain.

Nature photography has for long been associated with glamorous species, costly cameras and traveling to exotic locations. Things have not changed much even today, people who have costly telescope lenses and DSLRs travel to far flung areas to get images, from tigers to great Indian bustards.

This has resulted in an imbalance where there are mountains of high quality images of threatened and glamorous species while images of common species are a rarity.

Through the Biodiversity Photo Competition, the NFS wanted to change this attitude in the age of digital and mobile phone cameras and wanted common people to get involved in photo documenting the common flora and fauna of the country. This also helps to increase awareness in regard to conservation of common flora and fauna which are found in and around humans and urban flora and fauna.

The Help Birds in Summer Campaign is an initiative where people forward an SMS and posters for display which urge people to provide water for birds during summer. This campaign has been immensely successful and is initiated every year on the onset of the summer.

The society has also been working for the past few years to get the catapult banned in the country. The Ban the Catapult campaign hopes to curb the use of the catapult and include the catapult as a weapon in the Wildlife act of India. They have been regularly creating awareness in regard to this through various media.

With AN aim to disseminate information about the conservation of house sparrows the Nature Forever Society has created the websites below. The websites give detailed information about the decline of house sparrows, monitoring and how citizens can play a vital role in their conservation.

• www.natureforever.org
• www.cbmi.in
• www.worldsparrowday.org