WORKSHOP AT TALIMARZHAN RESERVOIR

On October 7, another meeting of Talimarzhan site support groups members involved in endangered bird species monitoring and protection was organized at Talimarzhan.

This meeting was attended by the country coordinator of the CEPF-WWF-Russia project, rangers from the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Ecology and Environmental Protection of Kashkadarya region, lecturers and students of the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Karshi State University, teachers and students of schools ¹20 and ¹35 of Nuristan city of and Dzhayran village.

At the opening of this meeting, the country coordinator of the CEPF-WWF-Russia project Alexander Grigoryants addressed its participants with a welcoming speech. He spoke about the Small Grants Programme that supported activities of Uzbekistan Society for the Protection of Birds at the KBA 'Talimarzhan Reservoir', and stressed the importance of the reservoir as a stopover during migration and wintering of globally threatened and endangered bird species.

Then, the project leader told active schoolchildren of grades 9, 10 and 11 from schools ¹20 and ¹35 of Nuristan city and Dzhayran village located in the immediate vicinity of the reservoir, about most common and rare birds that can be observed on Talimarzhan. For the lesson, pre-prepared identification tables of waterfowl and the leafler 'Sociable Lapwing - Bird of the Year 2020-2021 in Uzbekistan' were used.

The opening speech was followed by an excursion in the coastal part of the reservoir were schoolchildren were able to observe congregations of critically endangered Sociable Lapwing. The schoolchildren were asked to count Sociable Lapwings using binoculars and telescopes provided by the UzSPB.

The Sociable Lapwing count was carried out on the basis of a competition where according to the rules the winner would be the one who indicate the most accurate number of Sociable Lapwings concentrated in the coastal part of Talimarzhan. First part of the meeting ended with awarding schoolchildren participating in the event with certificates for contribution to the Sociable Lapwing protection and with Sociable Lapwing soft toys.

Following the meeting, members of the newly formed 'Sociable Lapwing' and 'Steppe Eagle' site support groups together with the project team headed to adyrs in the eastern part of the reservoir to determine other potential areas of Sociable Lapwing concentration. Points for the regular monitoring of Sociable Lapwing and Steppe Eagle at Talimarzhan for 2021-2022 were mapped.