Guwahati: Encroachment, habitat fragmentation, and hunting are major threats to gibbons in Tripura and to generate conservation tempo to secure the Hoolock Gibbon population in Tripura in Northeast India as well as facilitate future planning, Aaranyak is formulating a strategic action plan 2024-2030 for the conservation of Western Hoolock Gibbon in Tripura. The event is planned in collaboration with Tripura University and Tripura Forest Department with support from Tripura Biodiversity Board, and IUCN Primate Specialist Group.
Around 200 participants including officials from the Tripura Forest Department, members of NGOs, students, research scholars, and experts from the northeast region are attending a workshop.
The distribution of Western Hoolock Gibbon is limited to the seven states of northeast India on the southern bank of the Dibang – Brahmaputra river system. Tripura is one of the potential habitats of the endangered species.
Unfortunately, encroachment, habitat fragmentation, and hunting are the major threats to gibbons in Tripura. Added to this situation is the lack of basic information and poor conservation awareness about the species in different sections of the people of the Tripura Forest Department, which is yet another major hindrance in the conservation of the species.
Welcoming the stakeholders, Prof. Sabyasachi Dasgupta, Department of Forestry & Biodiversity, Tripura University briefed about the purpose of the workshop and background of the conservation issues about the particular species, the only ape found in northeast India.
Prof. Ganga Prasad Prasain, the Vice Chancellor of Tripura University shared his knowledge about the forests and wildlife in Manipur to underscore the decline of the population of wild animals in general and Hoolock Gibbon in particular.
Dr. Deepak Sharma, Registrar of Tripura University referred to this workshop as a landmark event for the university as well as the sustainable development at large. He expected that the workshop would fructify a significant outcome.
In his deliberation, Dr. Dilip Chetry, Vice President of Aaranyak, and a senior primatologist and head, elaborated on primate diversity in general and Hoolock Gibbon in particular.
He said out of the 24 species of non-human primates in India, 13 species are found in northeast India, and Tripura harbors eight species. Only 10 Asian countries in the world possess Hoolock Gibbon, and India is one of them.
He asserted that there is an urgent need to take action plan to conserve this species as a flagship species by which other wild animals will also be conserved.
Dr. Chetry gave some examples of conservation efforts in the past from his own experiences and said that a similar consultative workshop was successful in Nagaland last year. A landscape-level conservation approach has been initiated by Aaranyak in this regard.
Dr. Chetry, who is also one of the members of the IUCN special group on Primate conservation and an executive committee member of the Global Gibbon Network explained the objectives of the workshop.
P. L. Agrawal, Chief Wildlife Warden Government of Tripura emphasized on conservation of the natural habitat for Hoolock Gibbon in Tripura which has been threatened by deforestation and illegal hunting.
“The corridors must be revived and specific suggestions are required for the plantation in the buffer zones, he said hoping that community-based conservation policy with collaborative efforts among government, non-government organizations, and academic institutions could address this issue.
Dr. Avinash Kanfade, Head of the Forest Force, Government of Tripura highlighted that from the evolutionary point of view, Hoolock Gibbon is man’s nearest relative and that he has a moral responsibility to conserve the species.
He shared his experience of 30 years about the wildlife conservation scenario in Tripura and held men responsible for the dwindling population of wild animals. He stressed that both in-situ and ex-situ conservation efforts have to be undertaken.
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Kanfade opined that population monitoring, habitat restoration, sensitization of law enforcement agencies, and scientific research should be operated together in the conservation of wild species, particularly for Hoolock Gibbon.
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