The two-day meeting of 30 range countries of Central Asian Flyway has begun.

What is Central Asian Flyway?

• Central Asian Flyway (CAF) is a flyway covering a large continental area of Eurasia between the Arctic Ocean and the Indian Ocean and the associated island chains.
• It comprises several important migration routes of waterbirds, most of which extend from the northernmost breeding grounds in Siberia to the southernmost non-breeding wintering grounds in West Asia, India, the Maldives and the British Indian Ocean Territory.
• The CAF range is essentially centred on one of the three major wintering areas of waterfowl in the Old World, namely the Indian subcontinent, the other two being Africa.
• There are also the African-Eurasian Flyway (AEWA) to the west, and south-east Asia in the East Asian – Australasian Flyway (EAAF) to the east.
• These wintering areas are geographically separate, and present entirely different ecological, historical and cultural situations.

Range countries

• The flyway covers 30 countries of North, Central and South Asia and Trans-Caucasus.
• India is the core country of the CAF and supports 257 species of water birds.

Major migratory birds

• Critically Endangered – northern bald ibis, white-bellied heron, Baer’s pochard
• Endangered – greater adjutant
• Vulnerable – black-necked crane, Indian skimmer, lesser adjutant, masked finfoot, Socotra cormorant, wood snipe
• Near Threatened – black-headed ibis, lesser flamingo, pygmy cormorant, white-eyed gull

Why designate such flyways?

• Approximately one in five of the world’s 11,000 bird species11,000 bird species migrate, some covering enormous distances.
• Conserving migratory birds requires cooperation and coordination along the entire flyway between countries and across national boundaries.

UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now