Mr. Arend van Riessen

Founder of Friends of Bird

The Late Mr. Arend van Riessen was one of the founders of Friends of Bird (FoB) and a key advisor to Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN). Affectionately known as “Arend Dai,” he was a highly respected Dutch rural development specialist, avid birdwatcher, and citizen scientist in Nepal. He also served as a dedicated bird conservation volunteer, bird data contributor, and rural development consultant. He brought with him over 40 years of experience in rural development and more than 50 years of bird study.

Mr. Riessen was a key initiator of ‘Chhimeki Chara‘, a mobile app developed as an initiative of BCN. Drawing on his extensive knowledge and experience, he played a vital role in the development of the app, which was created by his son, Felix van Riessen. Today, the app is widely used by BCN for the Neighborhood Bird Count and the Bird-friendly Neighborhoods program. Its primary objective is to encourage the public to engage with and appreciate birds. He also contributed extensively to eBird (ebird.org), the global online database of bird records, serving as a main review coordinator for Nepal.

Arend van Riessen was the author of the book The Birds of the Bagmati and Taudaha Area, 2003–2016. The publication, released in 2016, presented the findings of his 13 years of dedicated research conducted between 2003 and 2016. Through this work, he meticulously documented the birdlife of the Bagmati river corridor and Taudaha Lake in the Kathmandu Valley. The book provides detailed accounts of the status, distribution, trends, and fascinating stories of 263 bird species recorded from the area.

His book remains an invaluable resource for local bird guides and continues to inspire students, researchers, and bird enthusiasts. Mr. Riessen also initiated ‘Owl Night‘, a nocturnal Owl-watching event at Phulchoki, Kathmandu. He was the pioneer of this unique birdwatching event in Nepal, helping to foster greater appreciation and awareness of the country’s nocturnal birds.