With reference to an organisation known as ‘BirdLife International’, which of the following statements is/are correct?

1. It is a Global Partnership of Conservation Organizations.
2. The concept of ‘biodiversity hotspots’ originated from this organization.
3. It identifies the sites known/referred to as ‘Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas’.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

1. 1 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

Explanation

Statements 1 and 3 are correct

• BirdLife International (BI) is the world’s largest nature conservation partnership comprising 120 national nature conservation organizations worldwide. BI strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources.
• It is the official Red List authority for birds for the IUCN. It identifies the sites known as Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs), which hold significant numbers of one or more

  threatened bird species or have exceptionally large numbers of migratory birds.

• There are 13,000+ IBAs worldwide. The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS is BirdLife International partner from India) and BI have identified 554 IBAs in India.

Statement 2 is incorrect

• BirdLife International has nothing to do with the concept of “biodiversity hotspots”. Biodiversity hotspots, as defined by British biologist Norman Myers, are biogeographic regions characterised by high species richness, a high degree of endemism, and sometimes severe levels of habitat loss.
• Conservation International (CI) adopted Myers’ hotspots, and in 1996, it undertook a reassessment of the hotspots concept.

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only; Difficulty Level: Hard