60 bird, 70 butterfly species recorded at Devalsari

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 14

Sixty species of bird and 70 species of butterfly were recorded in the Devalsari nature and bird training course held in Tehri district recently.

Devalsari falls in the Aglar valley of Tehri Garhwal district, about 55 km from Mussoorie. The area has stunning deodar forests along with oak and rhododendron surrounded by terrace agriculture fields.

A total of 32 participants attended the nature and bird training course organised by the Titli Trust and supported by the Mussoorie Forest Division and the Ecotourism Wing of the Uttarakhand Forest Department.

Fifteen participants, including two women, from Bangseel, Butcot, Moldhar, Teva, Untaad and Thatyur villages, besides from Dhanaulti Eco-Park and forest guards from the Mussoorie Forest Division took part in the course. Two nature guides from the Powalgarh Conservation Reserve added the Kumaoni flavour to the training programme. Besides Great Blackveins, other interesting butterflies sighted included Azure Sapphire, Siren, Common Copper, Painted Lady, Marbled Flat and Grand Duchess.

Sanjay Sondhi from the Titli Trust said the programme would help in motivating the local youth to actively pursue an ecotourism career as nature guides and incentivize local villages to offer home stay to visiting tourists. He said the Titli Trust intended to continue working in the landscape to support skill development, with support from ONGC and the Forest Department and hoped that nature-linked livelihoods would also lead to conservation of local flora and fauna.