Bumthang once used to be a popular winter roosting ground for the black-necked cranes. Elders in the district recall seeing large flocks of the engendered bird arriving in the past, but not anymore.
The number of crane arrivals dwindled over the last three decades with only eight cranes sighted in the district last year.
The number hasn’t improved this year.
“When I was young, we used to see not less than 40 to 50 cranes arrive in the valley,” Shacha from Gayltsa in Chummig shared.
“However, the number of cranes arriving here has been declining by the year. It makes me sad that I don’t get to see much of these birds now.”
Chundu Tshering, the Mangmi of Chummig Gewog shared the same. “When we were young, we used to see more than a dozen cranes,” he said.
In recent years, sightings of black-necked cranes were reported only in Chummig and Tang valleys. In the past, large flocks of black-necked cranes visited Chhoekhor valley as well.
Many think loss of habitat caused by developmental activities among others are to be blamed.
“I think various developmental works like rural electrification and farm road constructions could be leading to the decline in the number of bird arrivals. Moreover, I think, the power lines running across the roosting areas could be affecting them,” Chundu Tshering added.
Researchers with the Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and Environmental Research (UWICER) think the change in forestry policies could have played a part.
“The forestry policy of 1969 on the suppression of forest fires has enabled the growth of herbs and other bushes, which do not become a good habitat for black-necked cranes,” Sherub, a Researcher with the UWICER, said.
The change in cropping pattern is also thought to have impacted the crane arrivals.
“Moreover, the cropping pattern in Bumthang valley has changed. People haven’t abandoned growing wheat, barley and buckwheat but the scale of farming those crops has reduced drastically, so I think the black-necked cranes cannot really find enough food to forage in the valleys,” Sherub said.
However, the trend might change with time. The Bumthang Forest Division has started working on reviving the number starting this year.
The division is conducting awareness and consultation meetings with the people of Chummig and Tang Gewogs.
The three-year project, which is funded by the Bhutan Trust Fund for Environmental Conservation (BTFEC), focuses on making a conservation strategy by involving rural people.
Through the project, forestry officials with the help of students and public, an artificial roosting place was made at Uruk in Chummig Gewog and habitat maintenance works were carried out in Tang Gewog in October this year.
“Earlier, not much focus has been given to central region, that is, Bumthang,” Sonam Tashi, a Forestry Officer with the Bumthang Territorial Division, said.
“Chhoekhor, Chummig and Tang Gewogs have not received focus from the department and also from the NGOs. So, through this project we are trying to formulate a conservation management plan,” Sonam Tashi said.
With such initiatives, forestry officials expect the number of black-necked cranes arriving in Bumthang to increase.
While Bumthang has been seeing fewer cranes in the recent years, the other roosting grounds in the country have witnessed an increase in the number of bird arrivals.
The number of black-necked crane arrivals in the country has almost doubled since the winter of 1986 and 1987 when Bhutan first started keeping records of the bird.
Last winter, 625 black-necked cranes arrived in the country.
