SERVICES
BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY
SOCIETY
The Bombay Natural History Society was founded in 1883 for the purpose of
exchanging notes and observations on natural history and exhibiting
specimens. Today, it is the largest non-governmental organisation (NGO) in
the subcontinent engaged in the conservation of nature and natural
resources, education and research in natural history, with members in 30
countries.
The Society's guiding principle has always been that
conservation must be based on scientific research - a tradition
exemplified by its late president, Dr. Sálim Ali.
Collection:
Much of today's information on the
wildlife of India and neighbouring countries during the British Raj was
collected by the BNHS. The Society's collection of specimens of over
26,000 birds, 20,000 mammals, 7,500 reptiles and amphibians, 50,000
insects and 8,000 plants is recognised for both its quality and antiquity,
and has been recognised as a National Heritage collection. Several extinct
species are represented in the collection.
Library:
The library at Hornbill House has a large collection of books and
scientific journals on wildlife and the environment, including century-old
books on shikar and rare natural history lithographs that are not
available elsewhere.
Nature Education:
The Society's Nature Education Wing reaches over
10,000 students each year. With our recent tie-up with the Overseas
Development Administration, U.K., environmental education activity has
taken off with the launching of major innovative programmes aimed at
building participative support of the local people in solving
environmental issues.
Conservation:
The Sálim Ali Nature Conservation Fund
(SANCF) creates awareness among target groups. Training programmes are
conducted for officers of the Indian Army, IAS, IFS, journalists, etc. It
also funds conservation oriented research projects.
University Department:
Since 1957, the BNHS has been affiliated as a Post Graduate
Department with the University of Bombay for field studies in Zoology and
Botany. It also runs a diploma course in Natural History and has just
started a correspondence course in Ornithology.
Research:
The BNHS has pioneered the study of the Indian
fauna starting with the Mammal Survey of the Subcontinent and adjoining
states of Burma (Myanmar) and Sri Lanka between the years 1913 and 1923.
Subsequently, the Society studied the Avifauna of the Subcontinent
starting with a survey of the Avifauna of the Eastern Ghats followed by
surveys of the Avifauna of the then states of Hyderabad, Travancore,
Cochin, Mysore, states of Central India, Gujarat, Orissa, Berar, Goa,
Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Bhutan - all by Dr. Salim Ali. The Andamans and
Nicobar Islands were extensively surveyed by Mr. Humayun Abdulali,
presently the doyen among Indian ornithologists. All the material and data
are housed at the Society.
The Society
had also undertaken a number of projects on the study of many endangered
species of wildlife and their habitats. Notable among these, were the
projects on the Asian elephant, Great Indian Bustard, Lesser Florican,
Bengal Florican, Jerdon's Courser, bird migration studies, the study on
bird hazards to aircrafts and ecosystem studies at Point Calimere Wildlife
Sanctuary and Keoladeo National Park. The BNHS now has a Bird Hazard
Research cell and an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) cell, and also
has a number of ongoing and proposed field based projects. |