Nagland: Birders in Nagaland are getting ready for Tokhü Emong Bird Count
KOHIMA- From 4 Nov to 7 Nov 2022, birdwatchers in Nagaland will come together to celebrate Tokhü Emong Bird Count by going out and watching birds.
From the mountainous wilderness to the arable lowlands, this is the first edition of the Tokhü Emong Bird Count which aims to celebrate the incredible bird diversity and bring attention to the threatened habitats of Nagaland.
This event is being organised in collaboration with the Wokha Forest Division and the Divisional Management Unit, Nagaland Forest Management Project (NFMP), Wokha, Nagaland and Bird Count India.
The organisations have collectively decided to do this event during the Tokhü Emong post-harvest festival of the Lotha Nagas to spread awareness about Nagaland’s bird diversity.
“Nagaland is a state with diverse festivals as well as a state with diverse birdlife. Tokhü Emong Bird Count is the first of initiatives where the community is encouraged to celebrate the festival with birds. We expect more such festivals in the future where people connect with nature and also help in documenting the rich avifauna in a landscape that still remains to be explored and documented”- says Lansothung Lotha, Range Forest Officer, Nagaland Forest Department.
“The Tokhü Emong Bird Count is an excellent initiative to document Nagaland’s bird diversity and involve the youth and local communities in bird identification and monitoring. Such initiatives are particularly important for the North East of India whose rich bird diversity is threatened by habitat loss and hunting.
I do hope that this is the beginning of a movement for bird conservation in the State that will also provide clear trends of changes in bird populations over time”- says Dr Pia Sethi, Senior Fellow, Centre for Ecology, Development and Research. Pia works on community conservation in Nagaland
The basic activity is to watch and count birds on any/ all days from 4- 7 Nov from anywhere in Nagaland, for at least 15 minutes, and upload bird lists to the bird recording platform eBird (www.ebird.org/india). It may be noted that the dates of Tokhü Emong bird count fall within BNHS’s Sálim Ali Bird Count–a nationwide event.
Besides documenting birds, there will be birdwalks, online/ in person talks about birds for interested public, other birders, school/ college students.
“Amur Falcons put Nagaland on the world birding map. However, the communities here can do more than just Amur Falcon conservation. This event is organised to make each one of us feel proud of the birdlife and nature that we have”- says Chenibemo Odyuo, Team Leader, Nagaland Forest Management Project, Foundation for Ecological Security, Phek, Nagaland.
While the event is primarily done in Nagaland, all Nagas living across India and around the world will also join the festivities by birding wherever they are. Do join the birding wherever you are, to celebrate the birdlife of Nagaland.
More Information- https://birdcount.in/event/tokhu-emong-bird-count/
