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Site description (2004 baseline):

The Naya Bandh area extends from the Indo-Bangla border to Naya Bandh Beel. It is a low lying area which includes several seasonal wetlands, mainly Chalka, Bakla, Vikon, Morkatta, Mona and Sirishdang. These distinct wetlands together form the Naya Bandh wetland complex. This wetland complex depends on two rivers, namely Tangon and Purarbhaba. During monsoon, the area gets connected with the River Punarbhaba and gets flooded. After the monsoon, the water recedes and several small wetlands develop, with a rich variety of aquatic vegetation. There is a small monoculture plantation of Barringtonia acutangula at the Bangladesh border.

AVIFAUNA: About 150 species of birds have been identified in this IBA (S. Jha, pers. comm. 2003), of which six are globally threatened, five Near Threatened, and 11 biome species. Among the thousands of other ducks, about 140 Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca were seen in January 2003 (Anon. 2003). In 1994, the 1% biogeographic population of this species was estimated at 100 (Rose and Scott 1994), but recently, Wetlands International (2002) could not determine the 1% population threshold of this species as it was difficult to assess the tens of thousands that were found breeding in Inner Mongolia. It is also very common in the Tibetan Plateau (Birdlife International 2001). About 70,000 individuals winter in a large wetland habitat locally called hoars in northeast Bangladesh. However, BirdLife International (2001) still keeps it in the Near Threatened category, as the population is declining, mainly due to hunting and drainage of its wetland habitats. This site lies in Biome-11 (Indo-Malayan Tropical Dry Zone). BirdLife International (undated) has listed 59 species in this biome, of which 11 have been found here. Most of the birds listed are quite common and presently of not much conservation concern. Despite the fact that this site has six species considered globally threatened, none of them have significant populations in this IBA. Naya Bandh is designated as an IBA for its value as a waterfowl habitat. If proper protection is provided, the Naya Bandh wetlands could easily host more than 20,000 waterfowl.

OTHER KEY FAUNA: No information is available on other key fauna.

MAIN THREATS: Aquaculture; Hunting of birds; Excessive reed gathering; Land reclamation; Use of pesticide in nearby agricultural fields.

The area is unprotected, and thousands of ducks are killed annually by the tribals. However, the long-term threat is the government plan to drain a part of the area under the Wasteland Reclamation Programme. The land would be distributed to the local landless people for cultivation. Excessive reed gathering is also destroying the habitat of wet-grassland- dependent bird species such as the Striated Marsh Warbler Megalurus palustris.

Key contributor: Samiran Jha.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Naya Bandh Wetland Complex (India). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/naya-bandh-wetland-complex-iba-india on 26/11/2024.