Guwahati
An initiative by students of an eastern Assam school near National Highway 37 to conserve bird nests in urban areas has taken flight.
Chorai Bandhob (Friend of Birds), a student-led group from Bongaon Chola High School in Golaghat district, launched Bird Nest Conservation Day on February 14, 2025. The observance was fairly low-key, focused on distributing terracotta nesting platforms locally.
A year later, the initiative caught on, expanding beyond Golaghat. Two non-government organisations in the district—GRASS and Asharay—teamed up with Chorai Bandhob to scale up bird nest conservation efforts. Students from 16 schools in the district observed Bird Nest Conservation Day on Saturday (February 14, 2026) while a parallel event attracted students from 40 schools to a centralised venue in the adjoining Majuli district.
Girimallika Saikia, the headmaster of Bongaon Chola High School and director of Chorai Bandhob, said the group launched the first-of-its-kind initiative in India to motivate people in urban areas to build and protect nests. “The motto this time was ‘space for nests, future for birds’, emphasising long-term, sustainable solutions. This involved planting saplings of local fruit-yielding trees that provide nesting space for birds,” she told The Hindu on Sunday (February 15, 2026).
