By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 4 Apr: Covering more than 450 species of birds, Leafbird Foundation’s ‘Birds of Uttarakhand’, written by Aneel Bisht and Bela Negi, focuses exclusively and comprehensively on the birds of Uttarakhand. It is a must for amateur bird watchers and travellers in this region. Concise descriptions are accompanied by beautiful hand-painted illustrations.
It has taken three years to put this book together. All the work was done on voluntary basis. The writers wanted to ensure that the book was thorough and of high quality.
When bird camps were held in the villages of Uttarakhand, through the projects organised by the Leafbird Foundation Trust, the villagers expressed a need for a bird guide in Hindi. It was noted that there is a lack of comprehensive guides specific to the region. Also, there seemed to be no Hindi bird book at all which would help them to learn about the birds easily. So, what started as a small booklet to train the locals expanded into a full-fledged guide – it is expected that this will be useful, both, for locals and tourists.
It is hoped that this book will be a boost to the bird watching eco-tourism in Uttarakhand and help the locals to become professional bird guides. The book has been published by Leafbird Foundation and all proceeds from the sales will go into the next book project.
“This well-researched and visually rich book will make you a friend of birds and the Himalayas,” said Dr Shekhar Pathak, noted environmentalist, historian and Padma Shri awardee.
“This book with descriptive illustrations and precise text will enable even a layman to study the wonderful diversity of birds. It also stands out as it has a Hindi edition as well which will be useful for the locals,” added Anup Sah, noted naturalist, wildlife photographer and Padma Shri awardee.
