Bombay Natural History Society

Description

The Bombay Natural History Society is one of the oldest scientific organisations in India, working for nature conservation since 1883.

It was founded on 15 September 1883 by eight nature-loving residents of Bombay who met at the Victoria and Albert Museum to exchange notes and exhibit natural history specimens. It is now one of the largest non-governmental conservation and biodiversity research bodies in India, headquartered at Hornbill House in Mumbai, with a regional centre near Chilika Lake in Odisha.

Its work spans science-based research, conservation advocacy, education, scientific publications and nature tours. It sponsors wildlife and conservation studies and publishes the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society as well as the magazine Hornbill. It runs Conservation Education Centres in Mumbai, Delhi and Nagpur, and organises public events such as the National Dragonfly Festival and the Asian Waterbird Census, the latter with Wetlands International.

It is the Indian partner of BirdLife International and has been designated a Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. Many prominent naturalists, including ornithologists Salim Ali and S. Dillon Ripley, have been associated with the Society.