Dehradun: Uttarakhand is set to establish bird watching as a large-scale tourism for the first time across the country. There are already over 15 birdwatching destinations statewide. And now, the forest department has been initiating several other places, too.
Although birdwatching is already established as a big industry in many countries across the world. Due to low availability in India, Uttarakhand took the initiative to establish birdwatching as a big tourism.
Bird festival was also celebrated for three long days from October 18 to October 20 in Binov of Mussoorie Sanctuary, where bird lovers from all over the country arrived.
Forest Department head Dr Dhananjay Mohan has been counted among the bird experts in the country, who has also written a book on bird conservation. Apart from this, 45 research papers have also been written by him.
The United Kingdom is the largest market in this case while bird-watching tourism also takes place in large numbers in Germany and the Netherlands. According to the report of Birds Count India, a market of several billion dollars has been created in bird-watching tourism. In America, the market for the bird-watching industry has reached eight billion US dollars every year.
According to Mohan, there were 45,000 bird watchers in a report of 2015, which is expected to be two crore in the country by 2025. There are about 762 species of birds in the country, out of which 268 species have been seen in Uttarakhand.
After Maharashtra, Uttarakhand is the second state where such a large number of different species of birds have been recorded. Karnataka is in third place, where 267 species have been recorded.
Due to the presence of different species of birds in Uttarakhand, there are immense possibilities for bird watching here, hence, the forest department wants to establish it as a big tourist attraction by creating new destinations for it.
The Uttarakhand Forest Department aims to curb harmful birdwatching practices, such as approaching nests, feeding artificial food, and playing loud music. Volunteers, including bird walkers nationwide, are being encouraged to support these efforts.
