OT: GOBI KIDS KNOW THEIR BIRDS

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Oyu Tolgoi LLC website published Thursday: a group of school children from Dalanzadgad have a new appreciation of the rich variety of birds soaring above the Gobi after last weekend’s annual World Migratory Bird Day celebrations. The Gobi is a prime spot for bird watching, with three major migratory bird routes crossing the desert. During this year’s events local children learned how to identify and recognize many of the species which pass over their schools each spring. The OT has organized celebrations of World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) since 2011, and this year organized a host of activities with the World Wildlife Fund, the Mongolian Society of Bird Watchers, the South Gobi tourist association and the Children’s Association of Nature Lovers, it says. This year, local children were taught how to recognize migratory birds, with a competition to challenge them to identify more than their friends. The competition was won by tenth grade students, G.Tsenguun and B.Tumentsogt, who are both members of a local environmental club called “Falcon.” WMBD activities also included an exhibition of photos of rare migratory birds taken in the South Gobi and bird watching activities at a nearby lake. The exhibition displayed photos by photographer and bird watcher, Kh.Tumendelger, head of the local tourist association and also Ts.Purevsuren, OT’s Fauna research supervisor. Ts.Purevsuren said: “I displayed photos of around 40 birds. The children were surprised to learn that we had so many birds in the Gobi. There are only a handful of bird watchers in Mongolia and the photo exhibition was helpful in spreading the message about why we should protect the environment. The highlight of the day for many children was watching migratory birds stopping to rest at a small lake near Dalanzadgad, before continuing to their final destination. WMBD was established in 2006. Every year, on the second weekend of May, people around the world take action and organize public events such as bird festivals, education programmes and birdwatching excursions. OT is supporting a project to set up database of geographic location, photos, images and videos, scientific names of pristine natural sites, rare wild life and plant species of Mongolia which is being jointly implemented by the Mongolian national society to protect natural environment and wild life, the Ministry of green development and Environment, and the Ministry of culture, sports, tourism. This year the project implementing team, among others, will document mammals, birds, reptiles, plants, insects through photos and videos. OT fauna research supervisor Ts. Purevsuren has written a book called “Birds of Khanbogd” in Mongolian which is available at OT information centers in Ulaanbaatar and Dalanzadgad.