For a country that boasts of 847-recorded species of birds, precious little has been done in the way of promoting Bird watching. Most government officials probably have not even heard of this past time. With the exception of agencies that actually conduct bird-watching tours, tours they organize.An agency does not necessarily handle all the different tours it advertises. Those are passed on the specialized agencies. So why not bird watching.
Ardent bird watchers travel the length and breathe of Nepal doing nothing but bird watching. From down to dusk, these fanatical tourists do nothing but peer through binoculars and telescopes. Even meals and interrupted if a special bird makes a sudden appearance outside. Half-eaten dishes have to wait as they excitedly rush out to gaze at the intruder. These tourists will go anywhere; do anything to catch a glimpse of rare species of birds.
There are bird watching societies all over the world including Nepal. It is up to the tour operators to tap them. Once more and more bird watchers arrive in Nepal they will go, back spread the word around. We never bother about the varied interests of westerners, which we fail to understand. Gazing at birds and spending money in the process may not make sense to us but for some people it is a passion. Bird watchers go around the world identifying birds and keeping records of species sighted.
At the end of the day, an assessment is made of the number of new sightings. The sight of a rare bird generates great excitement among these fanatics. Nepal needs to add new attractions to lure more tourists into the country. The worldwide web has made it relatively easy to reach all corners of the globe. We need to highlight all aspects of tourism including bird watching. Talk foreigners are not even aware of the fact that a large part of Nepal is flat Terai covered with thick jungles. That Nepal has safari camps where one can come across tigers and rhinos comes as a surprise to many tourists. Many associate this country only with mountains. Our tourism posters mostly feature mountains. Nepalese Tourism authorities are obsessed with mountains. We are yet to see a poster on Birds of Nepal like the one brought but by Bangla Biman on birds of Bangladesh. We can do a lot by just imitation other countries thus saying ourselves endless hours of brainstorming. Nepal can become a popular destination for birds' watchers but we need to take promotion seriously. Birding is possible anywhere in Nepal from the hot plains in the south to the mountainous regions in the north.
