The first edition of the Keyi Panyor Bird Counting was organised at Joram Putung, Joram village on Tuesday, with participants recording 38 bird species in a two-hour exercise.
Organised by the Keyi Panyor Tourism Society in collaboration with the Arunachal Pradesh Birding Club, Bird Count India and the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF), the initiative aims to promote bird conservation, awareness on local biodiversity and birdwatching as sustainable ecotourism.
ZPC Nabam Piju, Trade Development Officer Tai Arun, Range Forest Officer Bunty Tao, Arunachal Pradesh Birding Club Founder-cum-President Koj Mama, Ngunu Ziro Secretary Punyo Chada and Keyi Panyor Tourism Society Joint Secretary and Event Coordinator Joram Aatum attended the programme.
NCF resource persons Mittal Gala, Samakshi Tiwari, Nizar Muhammed, Prerana Chandak and Leons Mathew Abraham led the technical sessions. Students from Government Secondary School Joram, VKV School Joram and Neelam Taram Government College Yachuli, panchayat members and volunteers from Hugung Trek also participated.
Among the species recorded were Indian White-eye, Grey Bushchat, Dark-sided Flycatcher, White-throated Fantail, Mountain Hawk-Eagle, Large-billed Crow and Fire-breasted Flowerpecker.
Later, NCF resource person Mittal Gala made a presentation at Government Secondary School Joram on bird diversity, endangered species, counting techniques and the role of birds in ecological balance.
The Keyi Panyor Tourism Society distributed certificates to participants and resource persons.
Addressing the gathering, Koj Mama said the Birding Club, set up in 2012, is working to promote birdwatching and conservation, and that youth can be trained as birding guides to create livelihoods linked to homestays and ecotourism.
Punyo Chada recalled the first Ziro Butterfly Meet in 2018 which has now become an annual event, and suggested Keyi Panyor consider a dedicated Bird and Butterfly Meet to promote its biodiversity.
Appreciating the initiative, ZPC Nabam Piju said the exercise revealed rich avian diversity contrary to the perception that birds were disappearing. She urged people to pledge against killing birds and consuming their meat and hoped the next count would double the tally.
The organisers said the programme marks a step towards community-led conservation and sustainable ecotourism in the district.