MYAGDI: The 11th Owl festival has started from Friday in Lopre of Jaljala rural municipality-5, Parbat.

The festival is being held at Malika Basic School premises under the joint initiative of Friends of Nature and Natural Heritage Conservation Organisaton.

The festival has been organized with the aim of spreading the message of conservation of birds and wild animals including Owls in the rural areas, said Director of Friends of Nature, Raju Acharya.

The festival has been so far held in ten different districts in Nepal with the aim of conveying the message of conservation of Owl, which is in a critical state due to illegal trade and poaching.

Conservationist Dr Hum Gurung said that Owls has become near-extinct due to felling of large trees, lack of safe food, increasing use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture.
According to Dr Gurung, 23 species of Owls are found in Nepal and of them nine species are in a state of national vulnerability.

The Owl festival is being held in different districts every year to inform and inspire the community and concerned bodies to protect the endangered species of bird. So far, conservation festivals have been held in Dhading, Chitwan, Nawalparasi, Gorkha, Kapilvastu, Dolakha, Kaski, Khotang, Syangja and Kailali.

It may be noted that the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation and the Forest and Land Conservation Department have implemented a ten-year Owl conservation action plan (2020-2029).

Rajuprasad Acharya, Chair of Jaljala Rural Municipality, said that the festival has helped to understand the importance of Owls at the community level and lead the community towards its conservation.

Theatre and drama related to Owl conservation, painting, essay and poetry competitions are being organized. A temporary museum of Owl has been constructed and exhibited. Information about Owls, pictures, and photos are kept in the exhibition. A one foot tall Owl robot is also exhibited.

A specimen of Owl from the Natural Science Museum under Tribhuvan University is also on display.