The Asian Bird Fair (ABF) concluded its 13th iteration recently. It was held from 21-22 November 2024 at Las Piñas City, Philippines, and was attended by delegates from around the world. Birdwatching Asia was honoured to be invited to this prestigious event, our second time attending the ABF. This article provides an overview of the Asian Bird Fair 2024 and a summary of what transpired over the course of two eventful days.
Asian Bird Fair 2024 – event overview and summary
Introduction to the Asian Bird Fair
For those unaware, the Asian Bird Fair has been held annually since 2010, skipping only the pandemic years. Three passionate birdwatchers, Michael Lu (Philippines), Victor Yu (Taiwan), and Andrew Sebastian (Malaysia), created it to highlight the different bird fairs in Asia, promote the protection of birds and their habitats, and encourage birdwatching and other ecotourism activities. The event has since expanded to include birdwatching companies from across the globe.
You can find out more about the Asian Bird Fair from their official website.
Organisers for the Asian Bird Fair 2024
This year, the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines (WBCP) organised the ABF. The WBCP is the largest birdwatching society in the Philippines, established in 2003, and it includes birdwatchers from all over the country.
Their activities include guided bird walks, club birdwatching trips, a quarterly online newsletter, and nationwide support for local bird fairs. Notably, the WBCP maintains a comprehensive database of bird records, which is accessible via their website.
For the ABF 2024, 24 members volunteered to help run the event. Overall, everyone involved ensured the event went without a hitch. We at Birdwatching Asia would like to congratulate everyone at the WBCP on their success!
Main Sponsors for Asian Bird Fair 2024
Of course, the WBCP wouldn’t have done it without the help of their sponsors. For the 13th ABF, the main sponsors were:
1) Villar Foundation (Villar SIPAG – Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation and Governance)
The Villar Foundation is a non-profit organisation formed in 1995. It primarily focuses on initiating, implementing, and supporting social projects to improve the quality of life of people in the community where it has a presence. Projects include religious, repatriation, community health, and river rehabilitation programmes.
2) Team Energy Foundation
A CSR foundation that helps in national development through its various projects that address the causes of poverty and underdevelopment. Their projects include rural electrification, education and environmental stewardship.
Major sponsors:
- Department of Environment and Natural Resources, National Capital Region
- Las Piñas-Parañaque Wetland Park
- Haring Ibon
- Bird Finder Philippines
Other Sponsors:
- Tourism Promotion Board Philippines
- R.O.X. – Recreational Outdoor Exchange
- Primer group of companies
- Optisan Optics
- Allbirds
- ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity
- Centre of Conservation Innovations (donor)
- Ecotourism Taiwan (donor)
Participants of the Asian Bird Fair 2024:
A total of 62 organisations, companies and societies participated in the ABF 2024. These organisations come from across the world, as far away as South America and Africa! A summary of the participants is as follows:
- Hosted by the Asian Bird Fair and, of course, the WBCP
- 16 local organisations, with many of them focusing on conservation and education. Examples include the OCEANUS Conservation and The Society for the Conservation of Philippine Wetlands (SCPW).
- 18 international birdwatching and conservation organisations. For example, the Oriental Bird Club, Taiwan Wild Bird Federation, and Nature Society Singapore
- 17 tour companies, including Jaguarundi Travel (returning from the previous year), Nepal Nature Treks and Tours, and Bird Finder Philippines.
- 7 birding gear and optics companies. These include Optisan Optics, Swarovski and Haring Ibon
- 2 institutional partners, which are the 14th ABF in Seosan, Korea, and ourselves – Birdwatching Asia!
Asian Bird Fair 2024 – 1st Day (Thursday, 21/11/2024)
The opening ceremony was attended by Senator Cynthia Villar, a senator in the Philippine senate and founder of the Villar Foundation. Senator Villar comes from Las Piñas City; fittingly then, she gave the opening speech to launch the Asian Bird Fair 2024 officially. The two-day event was held at the ‘Tent’ in Las Piñas City and is open (for free) to the general public. A strong emphasis was placed on educating the youth; indeed, several educational talks were held throughout the event, attended by hundreds of eager schoolchildren.
In addition to educating the youth, the ABF 2024 also focused heavily on the importance of conservation. Two forums were held on the first day. The first was conducted by organisations from the Philippines and discussed the importance of wetlands in the country.
The second forum highlighted conservation issues such as the illegal wildlife trade and showed how the general public can play a role in rescuing and rehabilitating degraded habitats.
The delegates were treated to fine dining and cultural performances at Barbara’s Restaurant in Intramuros in the evening. The good food and lively performances certainly made it a night to remember!
Asian Bird Fair 2024 – 2nd Day (Friday, 22/11/2024)
More educational talks were held on the second day, targeting school children and the general public. This included a particularly interesting topic of nature journaling. Attendance for these talks was encouraging, showing that the awareness of the need for conservation is there amongst the youth of the Philippines.
These education sessions were interspersed with talks from guest speakers from across the globe. The first forum of the second day was about birdwatching in different parts of the globe, where guest speakers gave the crowd a small preview of what it’s like birding in their country. The second one focuses on conservation, where speakers shared about how they were able to give back to nature through their activities.
In the evening, delegates were treated to a Taiwan Night dinner at the Golden Fortune Restaurant, hosted by the Wild Bird Association of Taiwan (WBAT). This was held in conjunction with Taiwan hosting the first World Bird Fair, which will be held in Taichung City in September 2025.
Post-event Field Trip (Saturday, 23/11/2024)
Ever since the ABF started, the event has been followed by a birdwatching field trip to a nearby location. This year, the field trip was held at Las Piñas-Parañaque Wetland Park, a coastal birdwatching spot only a short distance from the hotel.
Delegates were able to spot many good birds, including the endemic Philippine Pied-Fantail, migratory Narcissus Flycatcher, and Lowland White-eye. Unfortunately for the delegates, the Philippine Duck was nowhere to be seen.
A short tour of Intramuros, the walled city in the heart of Manila, followed this birding session.
The next ABF?
The 14th Asian Bird Fair 2025 Seosan will be held in Seosan City, South Korea, from 31 October until 3 November 2025. This was officially announced at the turnover dinner at Villar SIPAG Hall on the evening of 23/11/24.
Seosan City hosted the turnover dinner, and the event hall was appropriately decorated with Korean autumn themes. During the dinner, delegates were treated to Korean cuisine, lively cultural dances, and prize giveaways and auctions.
Conclusion
The first-ever Asian Bird Fair was held in 2010 in Davao, Philippines. Now, more than 14 years later, the ABF has come full circle and finally returned to the country where it first started. Undoubtedly, the 13th Asian Bird Fair 2024 at Las Piñas City was a resounding success.
Lastly, we at Birdwatching Asia would like to congratulate the organisers again on the success of this prestigious event. See you in Seosan City next year!
