Wetland depletion driven by agricultural expansion, rapid urbanisation, commercial fish farming and pollution is degrading the habitats of migratory birds that arrive in Bangladesh each winter, researchers warn.
Officials of the Bangladesh Bird Club said that about 20 per cent fewer migratory birds arrived in the country in 2025 than in 2024.
‘Migratory birds are not getting the food they rely on,’ said the club’s general secretary ABM Sarowar Alam, also wildlife biologist at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Bangladesh.
Every winter, millions of birds travel thousands of kilometres through the Central Asian and East Asian–Australasian flyways, from Siberia and Central Asia to warmer parts of South Asia and beyond, according to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals.
The journey depends on intact wetlands, riverine forests and coastal mangroves that serve as crucial stopover sites for rest and refuelling.
Bangladesh lies on both flyways and supports around 240 migratory bird species, including globally threatened ones such as the painted stork, spoon-billed sandpiper, Eurasian oystercatcher, Indian skimmer, great knot and greater spotted eagle, according to the IUCN Red List of Bangladesh.
Bangladeshi ornithologist Sayam U Chowdhury, a researcher at the Conservation Research Institute of the University of Cambridge, said that the shrunk and polluted water bodies were destroying habitats and food resources during the birds’ non-breeding season.
Sarowar said the wetlands for migratory birds were decreasing as haor basins were leased out for commercial fish farming, while low-lying ridges were increasingly used for cattle and poultry rearing.
A joint Bangladesh Bird Club–IUCN study found that Tanguar Haor witnessed 59 migratory bird species between 2008 and 2021.
Another study published in 2021 found that about one-third of shallow-water area of Tanguar Haor was converted into agricultural land between 1989 and 2017.
Along the coast, mudflats are being transformed into hard land through afforestation and climate-related processes, Sarowar said.
A 2025 study identified unplanned fishing, tourism, agricultural expansion, hunting and pollution as major threats for migratory birds in south-central coastal areas.
Sayam U Chowdhury said protecting migratory water birds required stronger management of both freshwater and coastal wetlands.
‘Conservation efforts must protect remaining wetlands, restore degraded ones, and balance biodiversity needs with food production and climate resilience,’ he said.
*Banner photo credit: Sayam U Chowdhury
* The original story was published by New Age. Link: https://www.newagebd.net/post/country/287889/country-turns-unwelcoming-to-migratory-birds
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