Bird Watching sites in Mumbai

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Conservation Education Centre

COMING SOON
by Adesh Shivkar

Till then check his blog (http://addithebirde.blogspot.com) for trip reports from different parts of Mumbai.



Meanwhile heres a few things about CEC, Goregaon
Mumbai is very lucky to have the first* CEC of the country. Nestled in the BNHS Reserve Forest (which is a part of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park) it can be easily accessed from Mumbai's Film City in Goregaon.

[* - BNHS hopes to open such centres all over the country and is working towards this. The CEC in Delhi is the only other one that is already open, it is in the Asola Wildlife Sanctaury (Check one photo from there - HERE).]
CEC is a place were Nature Conservation is taken very Seriously. A dedicated team of Volunteers from all walks of life put in a lot of time and energy to explain to thousands of visitors every year the different aspect of our beloved forest - SGNP.

The main bulk of Visitors here comprise of School Children. The CEC also hosts other events and courses for those interested in making a contribution to Nature.
The building itself is a great design (especially looking at it from an environment point of view). Besides being very well lit and ventilated naturally it is also designed at different levels so as to maintain the actual contours of its surroundings.
CEC sits in what is known as the BNHS Reserve Forest. A portion of SGNP was donated to BNHS (for a fixed period of time) to conduct various studies to set up a Nature Awareness and Conservation Centre.

This patch of Forest offers many different trails and changes drastically with the seasons, making it one of the favourite spots of most experienced bird watchers in the city.
And lastly (for the time being) here's one more pic of the whole building.