Arunachal: 5th Eaglenest Bird Festival Opens at Kamengbari
The three-day Eaglenest Bird Festival at Kamengbari brought together students, naturalists and officials to celebrate biodiversity, promote eco-tourism and deepen community conservation efforts.
KAMENGBARI — The 5th edition of the Eaglenest Bird Festival opened on February 8 at Kamengbari on the foothills of the Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, drawing nature enthusiasts, students, conservationists and cultural performers for a three-day programme aimed at strengthening local stewardship of biodiversity and promoting responsible eco-tourism.
The festival was inaugurated by Pasang Dorjee Sona, who underscored the twin goals of conservation and community benefit. The programme featured early-morning birdwatching sessions, field workshops on bird identification and habitat protection, photography walks, and cultural performances showcasing the living heritage of communities around Eaglenest. Organisers said the festival seeks to blend scientific engagement with local knowledge and youth participation.
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Organisers and local officials highlighted Eaglenest’s global significance: the sanctuary is internationally recognised for exceptional avian diversity and forms part of a larger Eastern Himalayan biodiversity hotspot, hosting several hundred recorded bird species and endemic discoveries such as the Bugun Liocichla. Festival activities leveraged this biodiversity to teach monitoring techniques, promote community-based tourism models and discuss mitigation of human-wildlife conflict in adjacent villages.
A notable feature of this year’s edition was strong youth participation: dozens of students and early-career naturalists from universities and colleges across the Northeast attended, taking part in citizen-science exercises and conservation dialogues. Local community groups and tribal artists contributed cultural programmes, reflecting organisers’ emphasis on conservation that is culturally rooted and locally led.
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Speakers at panel discussions argued for calibrated tourism that safeguards fragile habitats while creating livelihoods for local residents. Workshops addressed issues ranging from ethical bird photography and species identification to habitat restoration and invasive species management. Festival organisers said the event also aims to build long-term networks between researchers, local stakeholders and government agencies to channel resources for conservation and sustainable tourism infrastructure.
Officials and conservationists noted operational challenges — access during the winter months, carrying capacity of small hamlets, and the need for clear guidelines to balance visitor numbers and habitat sensitivity. They proposed practical measures such as regulated visitor quotas for sensitive trails, community-managed homestays, and training programmes for local guides to ensure conservation outcomes are coupled with economic benefits.
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The festival concluded each day with cultural evenings and open forums where participants discussed follow-up actions, including expanded citizen-science monitoring and year-round educational outreach in schools. Organisers said the Eaglenest Bird Festival continues to evolve as a grassroots platform that connects global conservation priorities with on-the-ground community stewardship in Arunachal Pradesh.
