Guwahati: To facilitate harmonious coexistence of humans and elephants, biodiversity conservation group Aaranyak organised a training workshop to sensitise a group of ‘Village Champions’ and Nokmas in Meghalaya’s West Garo Hills (WGH) on Wednesday.
Village Champions are members of local communities who are engaged in raising community awareness and facilitating cooperation for a collaborative project aimed at promoting human elephant coexistence at the village level.
The project is implemented in partnership with the British Asian Trust (BAT) and Aaranyak under the sponsorship of Darwin Initiative. The programme was held in Bondukmali village of West Garo Hills district in the office premises of Integrated Village Co-operative Society.
Around 15 participants attended the programme.
Earlier, Aaranyak has worked on human-elephant coexistence projects in Assam and in Meghalaya in villages like Photamati, Bondukmali, Borogobal and Jamdangre. Human-elephant-conflict has been prevalent in this area since 2013.
These villages are inhabited by a mixed population of indigenous communities including Garos, Rabhas and Bodos. Village Champions and Nokmas from these villages as well as a few other ones participated and interacted in the programme.
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Aaranyak senior officials Jayanta Pathak, Anjan Baruah and project personnel Vendo Theodore, Subhas Rabha and Bijoy Kalita along with an intern from Azim Premji University were present at the programme.
Renowned environment film maker of Assam Champak Deka also attended the sensitisation workshop.
Dear Reader,
Every day, our team at EastMojo travels through rain, rough roads, and remote hills to bring you stories that matter – stories from your town, your people, your Northeast.
We do this because we believe in truthful, independent journalism. No big corporate backing, no government pressure – just honest reporting by local journalists who live and breathe the same air you do.
But to keep doing this work, we need you. Your small contribution helps us pay our reporters fairly, reach places others ignore, and keep asking the tough questions.
If you believe the Northeast deserves its own fearless voice, stand with us.
Support independent journalism. Be a Member.
Thank you,
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Editor-in-Chief, eastmojo.com
While Jayanta Pathak made a presentation about traits of elephants, Anjan Baruah presented different factors of human-elephant conflict and various mitigation measures, including lemon bio-fences. Vendo Theodore spoke about compensation offered by authorities to victims of human-elephant conflicts and explained the payment procedure.
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