India has a total of 466 Important Bird Areas (IBAs)

identified till now hosting a wide variety of avian species with many of them in the endangered category. Co-author Dr Stuart Butchart, Head of Science at BirdLife International, said, "Overall, while these important sites will continue to sustain bird species of conservation concern, climate change will modify which species each site will be suitable for. We need to adapt our conservation management. Protecting natural habitats benefits people too. Bombay Natural History Society director Dr Asad Rahmani said, "The study further proves that we need landscape-based conservation, particularly in high biodiversity areas such as the north-eastern region of India. Climate change will impact the distribution and range of many bird species due to the changes in their habitat". Stressing on the need for a holistic landscape-based conservation, he said that some forest dependent species, which at present may occur in protected areas, may find those areas unsuitable in the coming years due to climate change.