ENVIS (Environmental Information System) Centre at the Bombay Natural History Society was established in 1996 by the Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India. We at the BNHS primarily deal with the Avian Ecology and Inland Wetlands. The Centre at the BNHS has entered its seventh year of operation during the year 2003-2004. The choice of BNHS for such a center is understandable, as BNHS has been associated with studies on ornithology, wetlands, natural history and conservation. The Centre’s database on Avian Ecology and Inland Wetlands is being continuously updated. We now have a total of more than 10600 references on Avian Ecology and nearly 5424 references on Inland Wetlands. Till today we have produced eight volumes of our newsletter BUCEROS. We have more than 400 people in our (ENVIS) mailing list that mostly comprises of individuals, institutions and Principal and Chief Conservator of Forests of various states in India. Apart from individuals and institutions in India we have more than 100 individuals out side of India – who are also receiving our Newsletter Buceros. Periodically we are sending them all the copies of Buceros. Through ENVIS grant we have also subscribed to some journals and purchase books on birds and wetlands for our library.
The MoEF has given money to BNHS under its World Bank assisted project - Environment Management Capacity Building Technical Assistance Project (EMCBTAP) to create website (www.bnhsenvis.nic.in) to collect, collate and disseminate information through internet. In this regard, ENVIS Centre at BNHS has its own website and uploaded all the issues of Buceros for the ready access of anyone who is interested on Indian ornithology.
