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.