One of the most popular regions in Odisha to experience the birding culture is Mangalajodi Chilika Lake, which attracts a lot of bird lovers round the year. Herein exotic migratory birds from far off regions like Siberial, Baltic Sea, Caspian Sea and a lot more places visit. In fact, this paradise of birds host more than 3,00,000 birds, especially during the winter season. The ecosystem in Mangalajodi is also one-of-its-kind, and is one of the perfect destinations to spot the beautiful birds. You may have different accommodation options in and around here, and even an eco-tour resort which can let you enjoy the scenic beauty of Chilika even more.

Next is the Satkosia Tiger Reserve, situated in the Angul district, which is a natural habitat to two of the most endangered fresh water crocodiles, the Gharial and Mugger and is also home to many elephants, leopards, deer and its flagship species, as well as the tiger. Moreover, Satkosia is the meeting point of two bio-geographic regions of India; the Deccan Peninsula and the Eastern Ghats. Here you can not only get a chance to sight the “big cat” in its natural habitat, but will also enjoy soaking in the rich & untouched biodiversity of the forest. Meandering through this forest will offer you some stunning sights, while you can catch the brilliant views of the sunrise & sunset. If you’re planning to stay here for the night, you can be at one of the guest houses provided by the forest department.

Apart from that, you can also visit “The land of crocodiles” in Odisha, which is the Bhitarkanika National Park. It’s a great place for reptile and crocodile enthusiasts. The two main entry points of Bhitarkanika are Khola and Gupti, and visitors are required to take entry permit from the forest check gate at these entry points. No doubt you’ll be amazed and totally mesmerized to witness the wilderness of this national park and the rich biodiversity it comprises of.

It’s advisable to be careful while touring on a boat through the Baitarni River, which is basically the home of the crocs. If you’re lucky enough, you can also get to see some large crocodiles, and be amazed to see what lies ahead of you. Besides, this place is also a sanctuary for migrating birds from all over world. That apart, the sanctuary also comprises of a mini museum and has small collection of reptiles. And there’s even an ancient temple of Shiva deep inside the forest, which belongs to the 5th century B.C.

Some of other best wildlife tours in Odisha where you can have a great time include Debrigarh wildlife sanctuary, Sunabeda wildlife sanctuary, Kotagarh wildlife sanctuary, Gahirmatha wildlife sanctuary, Simlipal wildlife sanctuary, Tikarpada wildlife sanctuary and many others.

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With the grasp and restraint of wildlife segment of Forest department, village communities have actually come out forward in order to cater a better life to the future generation. At an approximate 2 km distance away from Badmul ecotourism project, about 30 local community members and some villagers had put 12 tents on the sand bed and managed executing the work. Each house in the village is been repaired and adorned with traditional wall paintings and colourful and lively verandahs crafted by villagers to make them look attractive and dynamic. Villagers have formed EDC – Eco Development Committee and also devised a mechanism to make that eco tourism project self sustained. To welcome residents and tourists, roads and trees got decorated. All the 35 houses in the village are using LPG rather than firewood, as per the stats from the last three years. In accord to the EDC President, Sumanta Das said, “The lifestyle of the villagers has improvised to a large and all thanks to the ecotourism project that has provided employment opportunities to them along with helping in changing lives of communities who were dependent entirely on forests”.

The eco village project has also make people aware of the nature and resources conservation and its benefits along with generating more employment opportunities. The landscape now boasts of having absolutely zero poaching, zero fire and zero dependence on forests. In return, the community helped in enhancing the health of forest area and wildlife population. Out of the total revenue that is generated from the online booking of the tents, 35% goes to the eco tourism group handling the destinations as the part of their salaries, 25% goes to the recurring expenses on day to day food and maintenance, 10% goes to infrastructure development, 10% for EDC and rest 20% for corpus fund and Government revenue. The Mahanadi Wildlife Division, DFO Anshu Pragyan Das said that each household is earning Rs. 15,000 per month on an average every year. Their lives have transformed from just collecting and selling the forest produce to the livelihood that includes the planning and management of the eco tourism property and project. The best part is that women are actively participating and contributing in the eco tourism project management.

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