Guwahati: Dignitaries from France and South Africa explored the contiguous landscapes of Kaziranga, Nameri, and Orang National Parks in Assam under the Indo-Pacific Parks and Biodiversity Partnership during a three-day trip that concluded at Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve on Friday.
On the final day, the delegates explored the three national parks through waterways and concluded their trip at the Bhomoraguri Inspection Bungalow.
International experts also participated in a workshop and field visits aimed at strengthening the partnership for biodiversity conservation.
The participants gained experience in various best practices, such as policies promoting national parks, preventing poaching through enforcement, generating income for community livelihoods for long-term park management, involving local institutions in decision-making, and wildlife monitoring techniques.
The visit took place under the aegis of the Park and Biodiversity Partnership, a trilateral collaboration between the French funding agency AFD (Agence Francaise de Development), ONFI (French Forest Service International), and the Assam forest department.
A workshop on knowledge sharing at Kaziranga National Park, held during the three-day program, featured in the itinerary with M.K. Yadava, principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) and head of forest force (HoFF), Assam, chairing the workshop.
Yadava highlighted the richness of biodiversity and forest wealth in Assam and the state government’s various initiatives to protect and conserve them.
Workshop attendees included representatives from ONFI, the Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD, France), and South African National Parks (SANparks), along with officers from the Rajasthan forest department as part of the visiting delegation.
Other senior officers from the Assam forest department and divisional forest officers (DFOs) from various forest divisions also participated in the workshop, which included three thematic round-table discussions. Visiting experts shared knowledge and experience of wildlife conservation and best practices in South Africa and Rajasthan.
Forest officers from Assam also shared insights and ideas from existing wildlife conservation measures implemented in the state, including aspects of long-term monitoring, surveillance, enforcement, and enhancing community engagement through initiatives like ecotourism.
Delegates visited various parts of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve on Thursday and Friday, interacting with the frontline staff of the tiger reserve.
A demonstration of various wildlife conservation measures adopted by the park management, including soil and moisture conservation, drone-based surveillance, camera trapping for wild animal population estimation, and land reclamation, was also given.
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Delegates also interacted with the women forest frontline serving at various anti-poaching camps.
It may be recalled that a trilateral agreement for the exchange of expertise and sharing of knowledge between the partners on various aspects of wildlife protection management was signed in May last year.
The Assam Cabinet, on April 2, 2022, approved an MoU between the environment and forest department of the state and AFD to foster bilateral dialogue in the field of the environment.
AFD had granted Rs 2.5 crore in-kind to the state government to carry out an exchange programme for forest officials of France and Assam to similar landscapes and increase the abilities of forest officials in wildlife management.
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