PESHAWAR, Sept 26: Birds that migrate from Siberia to Pakistan and India from September to November have started arriving here and the NWFP wildlife department has begun organizing communities along rivers Kabul and Indus to contain hunting.

Birds had started arriving as winter had begun in Siberia and the activity would gain momentum if rains were received here, NWFP Wildlife Department Chief Conservator Dr Mumtaz Malik told APP on Sunday.

Dr Malik said the migration journey starts from Siberia to Pakistan and ended in India at Bahartpure. The route was known as 'Indus Flyway No.4' or 'Green Route' and the birds covered about 4,500km, he said.

The birds flew from Siberia to Afghanistan, the Karakoram range and continued across river Indus towards India, he said. They stopped over at lakes and water basins in Nowshera, at Tanda Dam in Kohat, Swat, Chitral, Punjab, Haleji, Keenjhar and Lungsee, he said.

The migratory birds mainly included water fowl, hobara bustard, cranes, teals, pin-tail, mallard, geeze, spoon bills, waders, pelicans and gadwall. He said his department had taken measures to contain hunting of migratory birds and work was done on organizing communities along rivers Kabul and Indus.

He said there was no rule for protection of migratory birds before 1970. Laws to protect migratory birds were enacted after the Ramsar convention in Iran and Bonn Convention in Germany, he said.

He said the department had developed wetlands where laws were strictly implemented for regulating hunting. He said a project aimed at regulating the hunting of migratory birds in the province had been launched.

Under the project 20 points from Warsak to Kund along river Kabul and from Kund to Tarbela along river Indus were selected where communities would be organized to control hunting, he said.

He said two hunting huts have been established at Agra village near Sardaryab in Charsadda and Pushtoon Gari village. The huts were established to offer opportunity to communities to generate income by charging hunters for providing facilities and issuing permits, he said.

He said 90 per cent of the amount collected by issuing permit was spent on community uplift and 10 per cent went to the national exchequer. The official said the wildlife department had also decided to reduce the 'bag limit' for hunters from 20 to 10 birds.

"We are considering to restrict hunting on selected days like weekly holidays," he said. In reply to a question, he said the number of those migratory birds had reduced whose reproduction was slow. Birds like ducks and water fowls, whose reproduction was fast, were coming in the same number, he said.

He said the birds sometimes changed their route due to change in weather, especially drought. He said one view was that cold weather compelled the birds to move towards warmer areas while another view was that they had inherited a natural phenomenon of moving from one place to another for reproduction. -APP