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BACOLOD City – Negros Island Region will host the International Bird Festival from Nov. 25 to 26 on South Capitol Road.
Activities will encourage the public to keep birds in the wild and not make them pets, said Lisa Paguntalan, director for field operations of the Philippines Biodiversity Conservation Foundation, Inc.
Photo exhibits and tours to see birds and get familiar with bird sites in Negros Occidental, among others, are also in line with the provincial government’s observance of the Wildlife Month.
International partners will come over to experience bird watching and encourage locals to know more about local birds, said Paguntalan.
Among them are bird enthusiasts, travel tour and nature birding tour operators, and tourism ministries from Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, China, India, Laos, and Japan.
Paguntalan said the visitors requested for trips to the Gawahon Eco-Park in Victorias City, the Mambukal Resort or the Murcia Birding Trail, the San Enrique-Pontevedra wetlands, and Pulupandan.
A tour at the Ramsar-certified Negros Occidental Coastal Wetlands Conservation Area may be a showcase, too, she said. “That time is the height of the migration period for migratory birds in the area.”
They are also interested in heading to Danjungan Island to see the Beach Stone Curlew, formerly called the Beach Thick Knee, which was sighted and recorded and never left the area since 2015.
Aside from Danjugan Island, the only other Philippine island where the Beach Stone Curlew may be found is Great Santa Cruz Island in Zamboanga City.
The bird lives solitarily or with a pair, and requires an undisturbed coastal area with abundant food.
A forum on the conservation of the tarictic hornbill, a critically endangered bird that also lives in Negros, may be held.
“We will take this as an opportunity to discuss serious environmental issues related to birds,” Paguntalan said. (PIA/PN)
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