KATHMANDU: A bird and biodiversity conservation learning centre has been established at Ranibari Community Forest (RCF) in Lazimpat, Kathmandu on Monday.

The centre was inaugurated amid a programme organised to mark the establishment day of Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN), an organisation that conserves the species and habitat of birds.

On the occasion, BCN Chair Hari Sharan Kaji Nepal said that the Community Forest Users' Group and BCN had an agreement to build a new infrastructure for bird and biodiversity research.

The Ranibari Forest, which was used as a place to conduct Diwali pooja (worship to the ancestral God) by the kings of the Shah dynasty, was turned into a community forest some 16 years ago.

Statistics shows that at present it is home to 67 species of birds.