The festival, designed to celebrate and safeguard the diverse bird species inhabiting Kaziranga National Park, extends an invitation to bird enthusiasts, nature lovers, college students, and members of civil society to actively participate in this event.
Reports add that this festival will see the presence of distinguished personalities, conservationists, and wildlife experts, and promises a rich array of live sessions, webinars, and a photography competition highlighting the abundance of birdlife within Kaziranga.
The festival will be focussing on the theme "Conserving Birds using Citizen Science," and aims to bring together everyday citizens, and motivate them to actively take part in the monitoring and preservation of bird populations. This approach fosters a collective responsibility for conservation efforts, aligning with the collaborative ethos of citizen science.
Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve have conducted four successive water bird surveys from 2018-2019 to 2021-2022, revealing a substantial gathering of both resident and migratory water birds.
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The most recent survey, in 2021-2022, documented an impressive count of 93,491 water birds across 122 species spanning 52 wetlands in the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve. This marks a substantial increase from the 2020 census, which recorded 34,284 birds, and the 2018 count of 10,412.
Sonali Ghosh, Director of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, highlighted the region's avian richness, which serves as home to 521 species, including 62 globally threatened and near-threatened species. The park is particularly renowned for its significant water bird populations, notably the bar-headed goose.
A significant portion of the Kaziranga landscape comprises water bodies and grasslands, which cements its status as one of India's most crucial bird areas.
