061. Kokkarebellur: Community protects migrating birds

Birds in Kokkerebellur

(Photo: Kuttan)

Kokkarebellur is a village located 80 km from Bangalore in Mandya District of Karnataka, India. For six months of the year, it is a quiet village like any other one in that rural area. In December, however, a spectacular transformation occurs here with the arrival of hundreds of spot-billed pelicans and painted storks. Migrating from the lakes of south Karnataka, these birds settle down in the trees of the village for the next six months. While the village below goes about its business, there is another world up above, where the birds court, mate, and rear their young. It is a mystery why the pelicans and the storks come every year to breed in Kokkarebellur. Both species are exclusively fish eaters and there is no large water body near the village. When they stay in Kokkarebellur, they have to feed in irrigation tanks within a 100 km radius. Yet, the birds have been coming here for at least 150 years, if not more.

It is said that, until the early 1900s, Kokkerebellur was situated on the banks of the river Shimsha. When a plague in 1916 forced the villagers to relocate a few kilometers from the river, they noticed that the birds too followed them in spite of the distance from the water body. A symbiotic relationship had developed between the villagers and the birds. While the villagers protected the birds during their breeding season, they also used the nutrient-rich droppings of the birds as excellent manure for their fields.

What is remarkable is that the people of Kokkarebellur provide complete protection to the birds. They believe that the birds bring them good fortune with regard to rains and crops. The birds are noisy with the young ones clamouring for food. There is also the fishy stench from the bird droppings. The villagers tolerate all such inconveniences and continue to protect the birds. Children are discouraged from teasing the birds or stealing the eggs. Any outsider, who attempts to steal the eggs or the chicks, is punished by the village panchayat.

Most villagers, when they spot birds nesting on one of their trees, forfeit the harvest from the tree so as not to disturb the birds. Children in the village are taught to protect eggs. And having birds nesting in one’s backyard is considered a sign of prosperity – villagers prefer to marry their daughters into such homes!

The pelicanry of Kokkarebellur was discovered by the outside world only in 1976. Since 1994, the Mysore Amateur Naturalists (MAN), a voluntary group, has been working in the village trying to involve the people actively in the conservation process. The programmes included formation of a local youth group (Hejjarle Balaga or Friends of the Pelican), tree planting, educational activities, and a health clinic.

Hejjarle Balaga is a band of young locals that MAN was able to inspire and train to care for the birds and their chicks. The group also plants tamarind and ficus trees – ideal for pelicans and stork – along the road, cleans the irrigation tanks where the birds forage, and teaches locals how to be bird-friendly. In the 1990s, bird-watchers, researchers and journalists began to arrive at the village in larger numbers. Hejjarle Balaga members would help visitors spot and identify birds, explain the history of the place and give visitors an insight into exactly how intrinsic the birds are to life in this village. In 2007, Kokkare Bellur was declared a community reserve under the Wildlife Protection Act – the only community protected sanctuary in Karnataka. This was in large part due to the efforts of K.Manu, the founder of MAN and Hejjarle Balaga.

In spite of these measures, the paradise of pelicans has been under threat. The growing population led to greater demand for the tree resources and the villagers became less hospitable to the birds. As tree felling increased, there was a gradual decline in the number of birds nesting at Kokkarebellur. The number of spot-billed pelican nests went down from over 400 in 2006 to only about 25 in 2015. Fortunately, however, WWF-India began working towards the restoration of wetlands in and around the village in 2015, in a move to bring back the birds. The Gram Panchayat and local community would focus on the preservation and maintenance of these wetlands by encouraging pisciculture and sustainable agricultural practices. This would not only promote sustainable livelihood options and but also encourage efficient use of water in the village, helping the wetlands flourish.

The rejuvenation of the micro-wetlands taken up by WWF-India would go a long way in securing water security in the village, while providing enhanced foraging opportunities to the birds. The Gram Panchayat would make a plan to maintain the rejuvenated micro wetlands so that they continue to serve the intended ecological functions.

Afterword: This story is based on the booklet Pelicans and People: The Two-tier Village of Kokkare Bellur written by K. Manu and Sara Jolly and published by Kalpavriksh, New Delhi as well as the website of WWF-India.