S4|EP18 - Saving East Kolkata's Urban Wetlands and Avifaunal Diversity with Nibedita Chakraborty

In this deeply informative episode of The Think Wildlife Podcast, host Anish Banerjee is joined by Nibedita Chakraborty, a wildlife and biodiversity researcher whose work focuses on wetlands, urbanization, and citizen science. The conversation centres on the East Kolkata Wetlands, one of India’s most important urban wetlands, and uses this globally significant landscape to explore broader questions of wetland conservation, urban biodiversity, and climate change.

The East Kolkata Wetlands represent a rare example of an urban wetland system that continues to deliver critical ecological, social, and economic services despite intense development pressure. Spanning over 12,500 hectares, these wetlands function as a natural wastewater treatment system, support fisheries and agriculture, reduce flood risk, and sustain exceptional wetland biodiversity. Nibedita explains why this mosaic of sewage-fed fish ponds, croplands, and open water bodies is recognised as a Ramsar site of international importance, and why its survival is inseparable from the future of urban conservation in India.

A major focus of the episode is avifaunal diversity and how bird communities respond to rapid urbanization. Drawing on extensive field surveys, Nibedita describes how different bird groups use core wetlands, transitional zones, and urban sprawls in distinct ways. As urban expansion accelerates, foraging grounds shrink, water quality declines due to wetland pollution, and migratory birds are increasingly absent from areas where they were once abundant. These changes offer powerful indicators of ecosystem stress and reveal how urban wetland biodiversity is being reshaped in real time.

The discussion also highlights the role of climate change in amplifying existing threats to wetlands. Altered rainfall patterns, rising temperatures, and increased eutrophication interact with urban pressures to further destabilize wetland ecosystems. Nibedita explains how long-term monitoring of wetlands and birds is essential to understanding these combined impacts and designing effective urban wetland conservation strategies that can withstand future climatic uncertainty.

Citizen science emerges as a central theme in the conversation. Platforms such as eBird and iNaturalist have become invaluable tools for tracking wetland biodiversity, supporting birding communities, and generating data at spatial and temporal scales that traditional research alone cannot achieve. By involving local communities, birders, and residents, citizen science strengthens urban wetland biodiversity conservation while fostering a sense of ownership and responsibility for these ecosystems.

This episode offers a compelling case for why wetlands must be central to discussions on urban biodiversity, climate change, and sustainable city planning. It is essential listening for anyone interested in wetlands, wetland conservation, urban wetlands, avifaunal diversity, birding, and the future of urban conservation in a rapidly urbanizing world.

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