Page 99 - Sonbeel Utsab 2024

Salmostoma bacaila, Nandus nandus, Eutropiichthys vacha, Ompok bimaculatus,
Clupisoma garua, Alia coila, Peudeutropius atherinoides are dramatically
decreasing in the recent decades.
Avifaunal diversity
A total of 89 species of birds belonging to 32 families were recorded from
Sone Beel, where 39 were water birds, 13 were water-dependent birds, and 37 were
terrestrial birds. Sixty species are residents of the
wetland, 27 winter visitors, one species, i.e.,
Black-headed Ibis, was a local migrant and one
species, i.e., Indian Plaintive Cuckoo, was a
summer migrant. Among the bird species, lesser
Adjutant and Pallas's Fish Eagle are listed as
vulnerable and endangered in the International
Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list
categories. At the same time, Black-headed Ibis,
and Red-breasted Parakeet are listed as near threatened. A pair of swans in Sone Beel
is shown in adjacent figure.

Vegetation
Among the rheophytic tree species, Barringtonia acutangula is prominent
throughout the wetland (adjacent figure).
The species is responsible for a wide
range of ecosystem services that include
provisioning (e.g., fuelwood, building
material, fodder etc.), regulating (e.g.,
flood control, erosion control, Carbon
sequestration, fauna conservation etc.),
social (e.g., landscape, bio-fencing etc.)
and economic (e.g., branch selling, C
trading, etc.).

Nonetheless, the Sone Beel is severely affected by diverse anthropogenic
activities, including climate change, and has significantly altered the ecological
balance of the system, threatening the livelihood of the communities that depend on
the wetland resources. Wetlands contribute to all of the 17 Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, either directly or indirectly, and their
conservation and wise use represent a cost-effective investment for governments.
Moreover, management and conservation of Sone Beel are crucial to attaining the
SDGs, specifically Goals 14 (Life below Water) and 15 (Life on Land), in addition to
contributing to SDG Goals 2 (Zero Hunger), 11 (Sustainable Cities and
Communities), 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and 13 (Climate
Action).
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