Langkawi Gazette

B I R D I N G   &   F O T O   F E S T I V A L

by Kamila Delart
      

A passionate Naturalist, and the founder of NATURAL HISTORY TOURS, Irshad Mobarak spent the last 20 years preserving the pristine nature of Langkawi, and sharing with the world the beauty of our breathtaking island. As one of his latest initiatives, Natural History Tours organized the Langkawi Birding and Foto Festival.

In its second year, the inspiring event took place from 25th to 27th November, and attracted wildlife enthusiasts from the entire Malaysia, Singapore and even Australia.

On the first day of the event, Kurt, the ‘Maestro of Macro’, Tee Lian Huat, a pioneer of digital video-scoping, and Basil Gelpke, an award winning documentary film maker, shared their enthusiasm for nature photography and film in series of workshops. With each workshop able to accommodate up to 40 participants, not one seat remained empty! 

The actual competition begun in the early morning of the following day.

The Bird-Race teams, each with three members, competed to identify and record as many bird species as possible.
Those who entered the Foto Competition spent the day attempting to capture the most amazing images of birds, reptiles, mammals as well as taking brilliant macro shots of insects.

The documentary films revolved around any subject relevant to Langkawi.

The competition was completed on Sunday at noon. The photographs were displayed in the afternoon at the Oriental Village, providing the public with the opportunity to vote for their favorite picture.

The Andaman, a Luxury Collection Resort Langkawi, hosted in the evening an exquisite Gala Dinner and Price Presentation. Irshad Mobarak from Natural History Tours thanked the Andaman’s General Manager, Anne Scott, for her immeasurable support, and her unwavering efforts to contribute to preserving Langkawi’s nature. He expressed gratitude to LADA, Tourism Malaysia, Penarak Nature Institute and Bird Malaysia who generously sponsored the event.

After having viewed the breathtaking photos and documentary films, the audience enthusiastically applauded the proud winners of the competitions who were awarded with prices over 10.000 RM:
   

PHOTO COMPETITION:

Bird:        Gary Dewhurct, Hainil Izwan Soleh, Indera Shuhardi

Reptile:    Gary Dewhurct, Indera Shuhardi, Peter Hofinger

Mammal: Gary Dewhurct, Selvam Raman, Aidi Abdullah

Macro:     Mohd Azizul Zulzaha, Khairol Jasmin Namin, Peter Hofinger

The People’s Choice Award went to Mohd Azizul Zulzaha.

The winner of the Short Docu- Film Competition was Nur Ahmad Faiz with his film ‘Me & Nature’.

The main price of the Bird Race Competition went to a team of Langkawi Residents: Khoo Kian Hock, Khor Chew Kooi and Lee Yan Yu. 

As an initiative of Langkawi Development Authority, the wonderful pictures will be compiled in Langkawi’s Wildlife Calendar 2012.
 

For more information about the recent Birding & Foto Festival, go to:  birdfestival.wordpress.com.

The dates for the next festival are already set, along with the ambitious plan to add further competition categories, embracing Langkawi’s wildlife at large. Anticipating to attract wildlife enthusiasts from all over the world, the LANGKAWI INTERNATIONAL WILDLIFE FESTIVAL 2012 is certainly an event to look forward to!

View wildlife-festival.com as the pages gradually fill with exciting details about the upcoming event.