With reference to an organization known as 'Birdlife International', which of the following statements is/are correct? Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only

A global partnership that identifies IBAs.

Statement by statement

1. ✓ CORRECT BirdLife is a global partnership of national conservation groups (BNHS in India).

2. ✗ WRONG Biodiversity hotspots came from Norman Myers (1988), later adopted by Conservation International.

3. ✓ CORRECT It identifies Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs).

The idea

Each big conservation body has its own way of marking priority areas. BirdLife International marks Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs). Conservation International uses biodiversity hotspots. WWF uses the Global 200 ecoregions. IUCN keeps the Red List of species. UPSC swaps these labels between bodies.

Norman Myers writes about hotspots (1988) → Conservation International adopts the idea → Two tests: at least 1,500 endemic plants and 70% of original vegetation lost → 36 hotspots today → Four touch India

The trap

A big conservation group sounds like the origin of hotspots. That was Myers / CI.

Also know

BirdLife began in 1922 and is a partnership of national groups; the Indian partner is the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). BirdLife is also the authority that assesses birds for the IUCN Red List. India’s four hotspots: Himalaya, Indo-Burma, Western Ghats and Sri Lanka, and Sundaland (Nicobar Islands).