Birdwatching is one of the most popular forms of ecotourism in the world, many birdwatchers enjoy travelling around world to see different species of birds.
Countries with high bird diversity, and are safe and convenient to travel around attract birdwatchers. Bird-watching can also contribute to the conservation of natural resources of the host country which makes this tourism sustainable.
"Birdathons" originated in the U.K. for the purpose of nature protection. It is a competition that participants try to observe as many different species of birds as possible during the race and raise fund for conservation. The "NEC Student Birdathon" combines this competition with fund-raising activities for the protection of wild birds. It was first held in 1988 by the Field Assistant Network that was formed by students to organize nature preservation activities, and NEC has been the exclusive sponsor since 1994.
Mike Chalmers and Clive Viney held WWF Hong Kong Bird Race in 1998. It was inspired by a book-The Big Bird Race written by Bill Oddie and David Tomlinson. The book described how 4 birdwatchers recorded as many as birds in 24 hours and won the race. Fraser's Hill International Bird Race is organized by the Fraser's Hill Development Corporation of Pahang and usually co-sponsored by the Malaysian Nature Society and the Malaysian WWF for Nature.
We are pleased to welcome birders from The US, UK, Korea, Malaysia, South Africa, Canada, Japan, Spain, Nepal, China and Hong Kong in past events in 2012-2014.
Taiwan has very rich bird diversity. 626 bird species have been recorded in Taiwan - almost 20% of the world's, 27 are endemics, and 58 sub endemics. This along with rare birds like Chinese Crested Tern, Fairy Pita and the Black-faced Spoonbill make Taiwan attractive to international birdwatchers. By holding the Taiwan Birdathon, an international bird race, we hope to make Taiwan the focus of birdwatchers’ binoculars.