K. Manu of MAN told The Hindu that the U.K.-based Birdlife International, whose network spreads across 100 countries, has evinced interest in community participation in the conservation of birds, which is the hallmark of the Kokkere Bellur experiment. The Asia-Pacific chief of Birdlife International recently visited the village and left convinced that the key to future conservation practices lay in Kokkre Bellur. Likewise, Birdlife International has identified Kichen in Rajasthan as another model where the Baishnov community hand-feeds saras cranes and ensures their conservation.

Boost
This has come as a boost to local conservation efforts, and the remote village of Kokkre Bellur in Maddur taluk off the Bangalore-Mysore highway, 83 km from Bangalore, is now on the international map and is set to emerge as a must-visit in the itinerary of leading conservationists. Kokkre Bellur has a history of hundreds of years during which birds and the local community have shared the landscape in the spirit of mutual accommodation.

The villagers have forfeited their rights to harvest tamarind that is a source of income because they do not want to disturb the birds that have built nests on the trees. Mr. Manu pointed out the pelicans in turn have enriched the soil with their droppings that are rich in potassium and phosphate, which has helped the villagers increase their crop yield. It is reckoned that the village supported thousands of birds nearly 40 years ago but the number dwindled due to changing environment and eroding conservation values, and the pelicans became highly endangered. However, the villagers revived their links with nature and MAN stepped into nurture this relationship that has brought the pelicans back to Kokkre Bellur.