Owl, birds of the order Strigiformes is one the several species of wildlife with its own unique contributions in the biological food web. Several efforts have been made to protect the endangered animals like one horned rhino, Royal Bengal tiger, Asiatic elephant etc in my country Nepal. But we rarely find institutional effort in conserving the small forms of wildlife like owl. With an objective of alerting concerned authorities as well as public about the need for conservation of owl, National Owl Festival is celebrated from 6th- 7th May, 2015 in Barpak village, Gorkha Nepal. The organizer for this festival is an organization 'Friends of Nature' (NGO) . It has been four years since Owl festival is celebrated in Nepal. Besides Nepal, Italy and USA also organizes Owl festival in different dates.

                     Geographically, Nepal owns only 0.1% of earth's total land surface. But biologically it is ranked as 27^th in terms of Floral Diversity. Among which 8.5% (863 species) of birds identified globally are found in Nepal including 20 species of Owl. Though none of these species are prioritized in IUCN Red List but "The State of Nepal's Birds 2004" has listed four of these species in the nationally threatened list. However the status is often overlooked by the institutionalized agency including government

                        Why are Owls depleting???

Multifactorial reasons underlie the declining status of owl. Among them one of the main is illegal hunting and trade. Nepal shares open boundary with its neighboring countries India and China which increases its vulnerability in illegal international trade route. It is predicted that owl lies in the top 5 list of illegally traded wildlife in Nepal. Moreover the next reason is social and cultural beliefs about owl including its invaluable medicinal value, the skeletal protects human from evil spirits, bad fortune will follow if sound of owl is heard etc. Also, heavy use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides is cause for mortality of owl. Local residents who are unaware about the importance of owl hunt the owl just for entertainment purpose. Increasing deforestation, forest fire leading to the loss of habitat for owls adds to the vulnerability of owls.

                        So, why should we conserve owl???

Owl is one of the longest living terrestrial birds with age recorded for 70 years in captivity. Food of owls include small creatures like spider, insects, mice, shrew to larger animals like hares, young foxes etc. Owls are also known as "Friends of Farmers" as they prey upon small rodents which cause a heavy loss in agriculture harvest. Despite this owls are one of the highlights for nature lovers and bird watchers. They have their role in balanced food web.

                  Keeping these facts in mind, Owl festival is organized since four years with sole objective to create the vibe for conservation of owl in Nepal. The main program highlights were (Source- Friends of Nature)

School programs: poem, essay and painting competition on owls and owl conservation camps

Public programs: owl conservation camps (slide shows in the public), owl conservation documentary, conservation speech, exhibition of owl conservation materials, exhibition of photos and sketches of owls, owl face painting, owl call device, exhibition of owl related materials

Entertainment: traditional dances like Ghatu dance, Maruni dance, Jhyaure dance, Lama/Jhakri dance, Sorathi dance, nature photo walk, owl mascot

Conservation awards: Nature Conservation Award (four conservation/social heroes and heroes working in the field of bird/nature conservation in Nepal and abroad), felicitation to the local conservationists and organizations

Competition: Bird watching (?The Big Day? celebration), other local games

Local attraction: Dense settlement of Barpak village, Baudha Himal, Monastery, Kot, Dhamithan temple, Chihandanda, local handicrafts, home stay, local museum, nature walk, village walk, local food and local cultural dances.

                  Though I couldn't attend the Owl festival this year due to my exam, I am sure the festival was a huge success and will impact concerned stakeholders to recognize the importance of owls and formulate as well as implement conservation strategies.

References

www.owlpages.com

https://www.facebook.com/fonnepal2005

Assessment of status, threats and the ethno-ornithological relationship and its extension for the conservation of Owl in Nepal by Acharya Raju, Yadav Ghimirey

www.fonnepal.org

(You can see my picture with Barn Owl, spotted 1.5 months ago in my university periphery)