Goa Bird Festival 2016

11 Nov, 2016

The CMPA Project officially partnered with the Goa Bird Festival 2016, one of the Goa Forest Department’s flagship events for the year. The projects pilot site (Dr Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary) was one of the festivals four chosen venues.

The Flame-throated Bulbul (Pycnonotus gularis), Goa’s State Bird. Despite being the country’s smallest state, Goa has a record number of 432 (35%) of the country’s 1224 bird species.Photo Credit: Omkar Dharwadkar

The festival was held between 11-13 Nov and attracted a large number of delegates from across the country that included birders, photographers and some of India’s renowned ornithologists.

Festival inauguration: Sh. Ganesh Gaunkar (L), MLA Savordem and Sh. Rajendra Arlekar (R), Goa’s Minister of Forests and Environment at the Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary

The other partners of the festival included the Goa Bird Conservation Network (GBCN), Goa’s Department of Tourism, Center for Environment Education (CEE), Goa Science Centre, Mhadhei Research Centre and IT Goa.

The CMPA Project posters being released at the hands of the Hon. Minister of Environment Sh. Rajendra Arlekar
(From L to R: Dr. Aaron Lobo, Dr. Anil Kumar, Sh. Ganesh Gaunkar, Sh. Rajendra Arlekar, Sh. Ajai Saxena)

The festival was inaugurated at the Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary by Goa’s Hon. Minister of Forests and Environment Sh. Rajendra Arlekar in the presence of the local MLA Sh. Ganesh Gaunkar. During the inaugural function of the the Goa Bird Festival the Forest Minister, Sh. Arlekar released some key products developed by the CMPA Project in Goa. These included a new brochure for the Dr. Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary and two other posters viz. “Birds to Look out for at the Dr. Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary” and “Kingfishers of Chorao”. In addition, the project also designed and developed the merchandise for the festival which included t-shirts, caps and bags. The CMPA Project was lauded for its efforts and as being a highly successful project in the state of Goa.

The posters that were released @ the Bird festival of Goa 2016

The Goa Bird Festival was also perfectly timed with the 120th birth anniversary of India’s Birdman, Dr. Salim Ali which was on the 12th November. Although the Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary was the main venue for the festival, there were several other key venues during the course of the three days including the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary.

The Prinipal Chief Conservator of Forest, Goa, Mr. Ajai Saxena, leads a group of delegates on a field trip in the Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary. Festival provided an interesting mix with field trips and technical talks by experts.

The Dr. Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary and the Carambolim Lake were the venues for the last day of the festival. At the Dr. Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, the festival delegates walked the now well-trodden mangrove trail and visited the mangrove interpretation facility in Chorao.

Technical talks were delivered by Conservation scientists of global repute Dr. Asad Rahmani (L) and Dr. B.C.Choudhury (R)

A new brochure for the Dr. Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, a product of the CMPA project in Goa

The CMPA project is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) supports this initiative on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag. The CMPA project is implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India, and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of BMUB.