About Bhoj Wetland

Bhoj Wetland comprises two contiguous man-made reservoirs, the "Upper Lake" and the "Lower Lake". The Upper Lake was created by Raja Bhoj in the 11th century by the construction of an earthen dam across the Kolans river, and the Lower Lake was constructed nearly 200 years ago, largely from the overflow of water from the Upper Lake.Both the lakes are urban waterbodies, located in the fast growing city of Bhopal, the state capital.

Bhoj Wetland was designated as a Ramsar site in November 2002.The Upper Lake is surrounded by Van Vihar National Park on the south, human settlements on the east and north,and agriculture fields on the west. The Lower Lake is surrounded by human settlements on all sides. The Upper Lake is a major source of potable water for Bhopal.The Upper lake is very rich in biodiversity, particularly resident and migratory birds, macrophytes, phytoplankton, zooplankton, both natural and cultured fish species, insects, reptiles and amphibians.

A management action plan has been implemented since 1995, with financial support from the Government of Japan. As part of this management plan, to follow up the impact on birds, 18-month study was undertaken in 2000-01, which helped in documenting the avifauna of the site. During this study, more than 20,000 waterbirds (A4iii criteria) were recorded. A belt of deciduous forest, with cliffs and steep contours towards the south eastern boundary comprises Van Vihar National Park. The greater part of the long western and southwestern peripheries of the site is covered with a mix of semidesert and secondary scrub, semi-arid grassland, arable land, improved pasture land, and perennial crop cultivation and forestry plantation. The extensive forestry plantation, being still young, around the lake boundaries augurs well for avian diversity in the near future.

Bhoj Wetland Winter Bird Count

It's being our pleasure to announce the first winter bird count at Bhoj Wetland, Bhopal.The avian diversity of Bhoj Wetland is quit unique. But surprisingly no comprehensive bird count was done till date. This year Bhopal Birds Conservation Society, Bhopal in association with Regional Museum of Natural History, Bhopal (RMNH) and VNS Nature Saviours, VNS Group of Institutions, Bhopal has planned to conduct a comprehensive bird count with technical experts/ scientists.

This time, we aim to explore a large section of Bhoj Wetland. The count will cover avian diversity of Bhoj Wetland, Bhopal found in wetland as well as terrestrial area. Rare, Endangered and Threatened (RET) bird species, niche of the particular species, migratory birds population etc will also cover in this count.

For this count, applications are invited from interested birder ,wildlife enthusiast, volunteers to get opportunity to be a part this count to know about avian diversity of the biggest manmade lake which is covered under RAMSAR site of Madhya Pradesh.

There is a series of count has been planned, first bird count will be organised on 08th December 2019, other count programmes will be announced accordingly.

Pre workshop on bird count on 07th December 2019 at RMNH will be conducted to give a guideline to birder about identification methods, estimation methods, habitat of the birds, migrations etc between 2.00 pm to 5.00 pm.

The registration is free for the volunteers on first come first serve basis. Only 50 participants will participate in this count.

The registration will be done through the website of Bhopal Birds www.bhopalbird.org

Last Date of Registration: 3rd December 2019.

Selected Volunteers informed by mail or contact no. by 4th December 2019.