Chilika lake, once a hunter´s paradise, is brimming with water birds again
(WorldNews Environment)

India´s largest wintering ground for waterbirds was a hunter´s paradise until two decades ago. But it has turned into a remarkable conservation success story because one man and his team coaxed and cajoled people to change. Thousands of ducks, godwits, and other waders from the Caspian Sea in the west to Lake Baikal in the east take wing every autumn. They head south for about 4,000 km until they reach Asia´s second largest coastal lagoon, the 1,100-sq km Chilika lake in Odisha. Until 20 years ago, many never returned to their northern waters at the end of their winter sojourn. Just as they stuffed themselves on the plentiful fish, people made use of the season´s bounty by shooting them and...