The Bengaluru metropolis has been home to urban parks, botanical gardens and reserve forests at its periphery. However, the city has experienced some extreme changes in its landscape and environment over the years, which have also affected the urban wildlife it supports in both good and bad ways. Birds are one such example of wildlife that has coexisted in most urban landscapes alongside humans. Bengaluru still boasts of being a paradise for bird watching though  the number and species of birds that one gets to see in and around the city has changed with time. We have designed a board game that captures this relationship between urbanization and its effects on avian biodiversity in the context of Bengaluru city.

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Our game is a playful resource that develops a deeper understanding of not only identification and documentation of the current bird-life of Bengaluru but also helps create awareness about the changing cityscape that affects the life-history of birds. Our audience are mainly young adults, but it is also accessible to all residents of Bengaluru across different age groups. The interactive format and across the table conversations prompted by the play experience of this game, enables its players to learn about the challenges that an ever-changing urban environment creates for birds. We hope that the game will invoke curiosity and sensitize its players to the changes in their city and their impact on urban wildlife, making them more aware, empathetic and interested in the natural world around them. 

The game is funded by the Bengaluru Sustainability Forum’s Small Grant Programme with support from the Nature Conservation Foundation, Socratus Collective Wisdom Corporation and Wipro Foundation.

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