Adjara to Host International Bird Watching Festival

On September 3-8, Adjara will host its annual International Bird Watching Festival. Foreign and Georgian ornithologists and volunteers from different countries will visit the region during the festival. Bird watchers will be accompanied daily by professional experts and guides to learn about the most important areas for bird watching – Chorokhi Delta, the villages of Chaisubani and Sakhalvsho, Batumi Seaside Park and harbor, and Kolkheti National Park. There will also be lectures and presentations open to the public.

A group of invited Georgian students and experts, as well as tour agencies, journalists, university professors and students and schoolchildren will attend the festival. Together with the invited guests, at the end of the festival, the results of the 2018 festival and bird watching season will be summarized in a presentation.

The festival has been held in the region since 2012. It promotes the development of eco-tourism in Adjara, the economic prosperity of locals, and conservation of migratory birds. The festival is organized by the Tourism Product Development Agency of the Department of Tourism and Resorts of the Adjara Autonomous Republic.

Bird watching is one of the ecotourism activities that holds the greatest potential in Adjara. The Black Sea coast is known as the "Eastern Black Sea Migration Corridor," where more than a million migratory birds are registered every year. Adjara is the third largest corridor for migratory birds in the world. Ornithologists, volunteers and ecotourists visit the region from different parts of the world to observe migrating birds. Bird watching season will open in Adjara on August 15 and lasts until October 16.

By Samantha Guthrie