3rd edition of Amur Falcon festival held at Manipur

Our Correspondent

Imphal, Nov. 4 (EMN): In a move to save the Amur Falcon, the 3rd edition of Amur Falcon festival was organised by Rain Forest Club under the aegis of Western Forest Division, Tamenglong district, at Tamenglong district headquarters, 150km west of Imphal on Friday.

Tamenglong  MLA Samuel Jendai, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest WPR & Training Dr Lokho Puni and Chief Conservator of Forest S Dhananjoy Singh were the chief guest, President and guest of honour respectively for the inaugural function of the festival which was held with the traditional fire-making ‘Maai Lapmei’ activities.

Speaking on the occasion, MLA Jendai said conserving Amur Falcon was not an easy job in the past as killing and poaching was done as source of livelihood in some areas. But now even Nagaland has become a second home for the bird, he added.

He said the migration history of Amur Falcon from Siberia to North East India (Wokha in Nagaland and Tamenglong in Manipur) then to Africa(Kenya) where Maasai tribe were helped by Amur Falcon by eating up the grasshoppers and flying termites. So Amur Falcon is defender of rabi crops, he said.

Urging the forest department to restrict the killing of all kinds of birds, he assured that he will give utmost interest to this festival and be defender of the birds. Functional President Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest WPR & Training Dr Lokho Puni also gave spoke on the occasion.

Delivering his speech as a resource person, the state Coordinator RK Birjit Singh of Indian Bird Conservation Network said that Rongmei tribes of Manipur’s Tamenglong district like that of Maasai tribe in Kenya, never killed Amur Falcon in the olden days as the bird controls the insects in their agricultural fields during harvest seasons.

Stating that Amur Falcon is one of the least known birds among 69 falcon species, Birjit also called upon the people to think twice and study why Amur Falcon visits specific areas of Tamenglong annually. “We need to keep the bio-diversity or these areas intact while welcoming the visit of this wonderful bird,” he opined.

It may be mentioned that Bhalok village (Phalong) in the district had already been declared as Amur Falcon village and that the villagers have already stopped hunting and killing of migratory birds.

Amur Falcon comes to Doyang Lake in Nagaland annually in millions making the area a bird watchers’ paradise. Considering its beauty, the centre had even plans to develop Doyang-famous for the world’s longest travelling raptors Amur Falcons- as an eco-tourism spot.