My interview with Prothom Alo, A Bangladeshi Newspaper

Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Sonadia Island, BangladeshPhotograph taken by and copyright Baz Scampion 

I had a brilliant week in Bangladesh, going down to Cox's Bazar to see the amazing and rare Spoon-billed Sandpipers and then doing a talk in Dhaka.  The aim of the trip was to highlight the Spoon-billed Sandpiper to as many Bangladeshi's as possible both in Bangladesh and in the UK.  

Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig talking about Spoon-billed Sandpiper in Gulshan, Dhaka
Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig
Photograph in the background taken by and copyright Baz Scampion 

This had started with the interview on Channel S (UK) in which I talked about the Spoon-billed Sandpiper and which was shown on the most watched Bangladeshi channel in the UK and Europe as well as on Ekattor TV, a news channel in Bangladesh.  The broadcast was the day before I arrived and it was great to meet a girl in a beauty salon (who would have had limited education) who had seen the programme, recognised me and was able to tell me about Spoon-billed Sandpipers.

Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig interviewed by Channel S (UK)
Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig

Whilst I was in Bangladesh, my Mum's uncle and my Nana, Josim Ahmed, asked a couple of journalist contacts to speak to me.

The first person to be in contact was Firoz Chowdhury from Prothom Alo, which is a Bangladeshi broadsheet newspaper, with the biggest circulation in the country: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prothom_Alo

Firoz Chowdhury arranged an interview with Zahid Hossain Khan which took place on 21st February 2015, with the article coming out on Sunday 22nd February 2015. As we were leaving Dhaka that day, we luckily managed to pick up a copy of the paper from the hotel lobby as we left.

The link for the article is http://bit.ly/1Dx1t6P

Article about Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig in Prothom Alo on 22.02.2015

English Translation

Mya-Rose: A love of birds

Zahid Hossain Khan

Publish at Swpano Nie (Youth page), Daily Prothom Alo www.prothom-alo.com

22 February 2015

Mya-Rose is a twelve year old young, enthusiastic bird watcher and twitcher. Those who watch the movement of migratory birds and of birds generally are known as twitchers. Mya-Rose has already seen more than 3,000 different types of birds in a number of countries. Mya-Rose is known in the UK and around the world as the youngest world bird watcher to see this many birds. 

Mya-Rose’s mother, Helena Ahmed, is Sylheti and her father, Chris Craig, is a British. They live in Somerset in the UK.

This February, Mya-Rose made a trip to Bangladesh to survey the rare Spoon-billed Sandpiper. There are only 200 of this species of birds left in the world. Mya-Rose said in an interview about Bangladeshi birds, "The Island delta is a place with an enviable variety of water birds. It is an amazing and interesting experience for me to watch almost extinct birds like the Spoon-billed Sandpiper here in Bangladesh".

Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig birding as a baby
Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig

She started bird watching when she was four years old and since then, Mya-Rose has travelled to all the continents except Antarctica to see birds and is going there in December. Mya-Rose's mother, Helena Ahmed, said, "When she was a baby, her third word was 'birdie'. We always support her work and ambitions".

Article about Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig in Prothom Alo on 22.02.2015

About the writer

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig on Scilly
Photograph taken by and copyright Chris Craig

Mya-Rose Craig is a 12 year old young birder, conservationist, writer and speaker. She is based near Bristol and writes the successful Birdgirl Blog, with posts about birding and conservation from around the world. She was the youngest person to see 3,000 birds in 2013 and she hopes to see her 4,000th bird in Antarctica, her 7th continent, in 2015. Please like her Birdgirl Facebook Page and follow her on Birdgirl Twitter