Panel Discussion on Birding and Anti-poaching Activities in Murshidabad
03 December 2023
HEAL and Birdwatchers’ Society (BWS) jointly organised an informative panel discussion titled, ‘Birding and Anti-poaching Activities’ on 03 December 2023. The event was held at Pallishree village in Murshidabad district and drew an audience of 40 participants.
BWS members, Sujan Chatterjee and Kanad Baidya, kickstarted the discussion on how passionate bird watchers can actively contribute to avian conservation. They highlighted the role of citizen scientists, encouraging participants to record and share their observations on platforms like eBird which can be used by ecologists to assess the conservation status of hundreds of bird species.
This was followed by HEAL members, Suvrajyoti Chatterjee, Meghna Banerjee and Santanu Das, elaborating on another critical facet of bird conservation: aiding law enforcement against large-scale commercial poaching. Some of our local field team’s most proactive members, Aditya Pardhan, Kankan Barman, and Mintu Sarkar, shared gripping accounts of combating the illegal bird trade. Their endeavours involve gathering intelligence on poachers, coordinating with authorities, and ensuring the apprehension of habitual bird poachers.
The event concluded with BWS, in partnership with Pentax India, donating a spotting scope to HEAL for bolstering our efforts in monitoring bird populations and hunting activities in the central West Bengal landscape.
We express our heartfelt thanks to our event partner BWS for their thoughtful gesture. Additionally, we extend our deep gratitude to all participants whose engagement ensured the event’s success.
