the goan I network
PANAJI
Goa is home to some 475 species of birds and over the next three days starting from January 17, enthusiasts are in for a treat with bird walks, workshops, bird photography and talks by experts lined up as part of the 3rd biennial Goa Bird Festival at Valpoi.
Some 200 delegates, all serious pursuers of ornithology, have registered for the festival, a biennial event hosted by the Goa forest department. The previous two editions were hosted in 2016 at Bondla and in 2018 at Cotigao. This year, the Goa Bird Conservation Network (GBCN) has collaborated to organise the festival.
Also throwing in resources for the festival is the tourism department which is hoping that the event will be a big draw in the near future attracting bird lovers from other parts of the country and overseas as well adding a niche tourism dimension to Goa as a destination. Thrown in the itinerary of the festival are Goan music and dance and a gastronomical treat of local Goan cuisine.
Enthusiasts are expected to mingle and share the experiences of their quest to conserve bird life in their natural habitats, according to Assistant Conservator of Forests Anand Jadav.
Jadav told The Goan that as a prelude to the festival awareness campaigns on bird life were conducted in some 35 schools from across Goa and most of the institutions from Sattari taluka. “Some 1250-odd bird species have been documented across India. Goa accounts for as many as 475 whose sightings have been documented by the Goa Forest Department.”
