North Bengal Bird Festival to commence on March 4

Sanchita Aich Bag, MP, 2 Mar 2023, Siliguri: Aiming to promote tourism and local livelihood revolving around birding in North Bengal, the third edition of North Bengal Bird Festival will commence from Saturday (March 4). 

The Tourism Department of West Bengal has organised the festival in association with the Association for Conservation and Tourism (ACT). Delegates from Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan will also take part. 

The festival will continue till 10 March. “This year we are trying to create a birding network through this festival. We have invited the organisations which are working for bird conservation and birding clubs. 

With this, we are trying to connect the dots and create people-to-people relations across the borders. We believe this festival will play a major role in upcoming G-20 Summit. The Ministry of Tourism is also supporting us in the festival,” said, Raj Basu, the Convenor of ACT at a news conference at Siliguri Journalist’s Club on Thursday. 

Delegates from Delhi, Bangalore, Pune, Kolkata, Jharkhand, and Arunachal Pradesh as well as from Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan will attend the festival. “For the first time in India, birding companies, birding clubs, forestry scientists, birding destination stakeholders and resource persons are coming together to form a network and help to extend the protected areas in human habitats,” added Basu. 

The destinations of the festival include Siliguri and a few locations in the Eastern Dooars. The festival will be flagged off from Mainak Tourist Lodge in Siliguri.The opening day will be devoted to interactions and networking between the tourism entrepreneurs and those who have a birding tourism product.

With this networking event, there is a possibility to exchange views about bird destinations in the region. The festival will then move to various locations in Eastern Dooars. On the way to the first halt at Chilapata the delegates and participants of the festival will explore Gajoldoba which boasts of numerous migratory species. 

Then they will travel to the Chilapata and Kodalbasti area, which is in the Jaldapara National Park. Home to around 246 bird species including eagles, Pallas’s Fish Eagle, Shikra, Finn’s Weaver and Lesser Pied Hornbill, the birders are hopeful to spot them .The next destination is Lepchakha in the Buxa region. 

This is adjacent to Bhutan. There they will experience Bhutanese culture as well as many species of birds. The final destination will be Rajabhatkhawa.The closing ceremony will be held there. 

Courtesy & source- Millennium Post

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/north-bengal-bird-festival-to-commence-on-march-4-510447