* Mazatlán is the site of the First Mazatlán Bird Festival, 2009
* We want to put Mazatlán on the map for the 40 million North American bird watchers
* They would like to make this the most important event of its kind in Latin America.
* Mexico is home to 10% of the more than 10,000 bird species in the world, and Sinaloa more than 500 of them have been registered in Sinaloa.
Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico, on December 26, 2008. – This morning, in and exclusive interview with mazatláninteractivo.com, we got important details about the First Mazatlán Bird Festival from Paul Beckman, director of Sendero México and EduVentura, as well as Vice President Secretary of AMTAVE (Mexican Association of Adventure and Eco-Tourism), along with Carolyn Felderhof, Director of Bird Watching Programs with Sendero México. The festival will take place from January 16th to 20th, 2009.
It's worth the trouble to clarify: for Mazatlán this event is very important because this sector of the tourist market attracts a great number of nature lovers. They come because of the sensational options this tourist destination offers them. Among these, bird watching can be done in an endless number of extraordinary rural and natural sites, and even within urban limits.
When questioned "Why a bird festival in Mazatlán?" Beckman responded: "Nature tourism has great potential in Mazatlán and in Mexico and, in terms of our bird species, the Bird Festival is a tool to generate more interest in this important region in the Republic of Mexico. Since the festival program contains interesting conferences, workshops, excursions, and expositions of top quality and international scope, we want to put Mazatlán on the map for the more than 40 million North American bird watchers.
Beckman explained that there are hundreds of annual bird festivals in North America, some large, and others small. In light of this, they are looking for ways to organize the Mazatlán Bird Festival every year, and to make it into the most important event of its kind in Latin America.
"The Mazatlán Bird Festival has been organized with the support and collaboration of the Secretary of Tourism of Sinaloa, the Panel of Promotion of Tourism in Mexico, Pronatura Noroeste, A.C. and Sendero México. The venue will be the legendary Hotel Playa Mazatlán. All of these institutions and businesses contribute to this effort. Together, we are creating a new attraction within the nature sector," Beckman reflected.
Felderhof, the festival coordinator and specialized bird watching guide revealed that the Mazatlán region has been visited for several decades by European and North American bird watchers because of the high endemism of species in the area. She said that better promotion was needed for the fact that Mexico is home to 10% of the more than 10,000 bird species in the world, and Sinaloa more than 500 of them have been registered in Sinaloa.
Adding to this, we have 35 endemic species in the northwest of Mexico and, according to experts at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, one of the most important avian corridors in the world is located on the Mazatlán -Durango Highway. This gives great importance and potential to Mazatlán, and it should use this information to create programs for awareness, environmental education, and conservation working for this goal.
For our part, during the Mazatlán Bird Festival we will hold workshops and excursions for more than 500 primary school children from Mazatlán as a complement to the general festival program. We are very happy because we received more than 40 pairs of new binoculars, birding scopes, and tripods from two organizations in the United States to carry out this part of the festival," said Felderhof.
Finally, both made a cordial invitation to primary and secondary schools, universities, environmental organizations, and the general public to participate in this event. This event, they said, will occur for the first time in Mazatlán, and will be a unique opportunity to be in contact with nature.
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