Sikkim government host 3-day Kitam Ecotourism Festival for bird lovers

The Kitam Bird Sanctuary situated in Kitam village is the core feature of ecotourism development. This is because naturalists and bird enthusiasts visit the village from all over the world.

Further, keeping this in mind, a three-day long (29 to 31 March) Kitam Ecotourism Festival 2023 - a joint venture of Namchi Wildlife Division, Forest & Environment Department Kitam Tourism Development Cooperative Society Ltd and Kitam Manpur Gram Panchayat which was supported by the Directorate of Ecotourism FED, Government of Sikkim has been held starting today, March 29. 

The festival-themed Discover Kitam - A Birders Paradise. It was organised by the Kitam Ecotourism Festival Organising Committee. 

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Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) assisted with the project, and the Forest Department declared Kitam village an Ecotourism Zone and funded the festival. 

Today's inaugural event saw Municipal President Nayabazar Jorethang Nagar Panchayat Mr Pavitra Manav. In addition, Tilak Basnett Area is in charge of the Melli constituency, SKM Party, DFO Wildlife Namchi Division T B Subba, other forest officials and local people. The festival showcases traditional houses of various communities and foods. Traditional dances are also part of the festival which will be showcased to visitors. 

T B Subba, DFO Wildlife Namchi Division while talking to the media shared "It has been observed that the Directorate of Ecotourism, Sikkim Forest and Environment Department plays an important role in promoting ecotourism in the village of Kitam and through this, we are trying to promote tourism".

While the organiser shared that since the Kitam has water scarcity and we are unable to practice farming and we don't have any other source of livelihood hence we now started to work on eco-tourism so that we didn't hamper the forest also and we started to organize the festival and Kitam is like heaven for bird watchers and enthusiasts.