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19th Birding Fair in Jaipur at the Man Sagar Lake
Team ScooNews reached the fair in the early hours to find young, enthusiastic kids peeping into the binoculars set up by TWSI.
With the arrival of migratory birds in Jaipur, came the most awaited two days of the year for bird lovers, the 19thBirding Fair. Organised every year by the Tourism and Wildlife Society of India (TWSI) at the Man Sagar Lake in Jaipur, this year’s fair focuses on the conservation of honey bees.
Though the fair is open to all, participation of 20-25 schools is expected within the two days. Team ScooNews reached the fair in the early hours to find young, enthusiastic kids peeping into the binoculars set up by TWSI. While some were enjoying watching the winged wonders, others were attending the informative session on honey bees. The session was really an interesting one. It began with the volunteer introducing the children to the conservation of Man Sagarlake which had degenerated into acesspool some years ago. This was followed by the volunteer asking students:
Why should honey bees be conserved?
Student 1: Because it gives honey, which is a source of high proteins.
Volunteer: Ok, bees do give honey, but tell me the main reason.
Student 2: Because the ecosystem will get disturbed.
Volunteer: How?
Student 2: I don’t know.
Volunteer:Ok, so it will get disturbed but bees are responsible for pollination and no pollination means no food production.
He further went on to state Albert Einstein’s quote, “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.”
After the session the interested students went on to answer a quiz which had objective questions on birds and subjective on lake and its conservation.
And if you think this is all that the two day fair is offering… then you are wrong, the fair goes beyond it. It also has 4 stalls- Commonwealth Human Ecology Council, The Janki Devi Honey Bee Conservation, Raksha-voice of voiceless, Books by Dr. Puneet Sood. All these stalls are to educate students about various environmental issues and the solutions the young generation could offer.
Even after all of this on offer, some students still seemed uninterested and were sitting with their open lunch boxes on the lawns, simply enjoying their outing. On the other hand, there were also many who were keen to ask the volunteers about various species they observed through the visual enhancements.
Harsh Vardhan, honorary secretary of TWSI was also the one equally engaged with the kids, he was enthusiastic in explaining to the kids about all the different migratory birds- Pallas’ Gull, Black headed gull, gadwall, great cormorant, etc.
Team ScooNews also got a chance to spot the great Cormorant, in the waters.
The fair set in the picturesque location of Jaipur is worth visiting not only for bird lovers, but also those who believe in nature conservation.