Assam’s Karbi villages visited by Arunachal community for Eco-tourism

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Assam’s Karbi villages visited by Arunachal community for Eco-tourism

GUWAHATI: Aaranyak, a leading research-based organization focusing on biodiversity conservation, recently organized a three-day exposure trip for a group of community leaders from the edge of Daying Ering Wildlife Sanctuary near Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh.

The trip was designed to educate and enlighten local community-led ecotourism and the concept of natural resource management to leaders including the Eco Development Committee (EDC).
The Arunachal Pradesh team, led by T Taga, DFO of D’Ering WL Sanctuary, was hosted by Aaranyak among the villagers of the Karbi tribe at the Kohora River Basin near Kaziranga National Park.

The purpose of the visit was to provide the team with an opportunity to experience community-driven ecotourism and natural resource management as part of broader biodiversity conservation efforts.

Assam’s Karbi villages visited by Arunachal community  for Eco-tourism
The exposure trip was organized as a part of Aaranyak’s Journey for Learning (J4L) initiative. The purpose of the trip was to enable the guests to learn from the experiences of local forest edge communities to establish community-based ecotourism projects on the fringes of Kaziranga National Park, a popular rhino habitat. The exhibition tour took place from January 10 to 12 and was organized under Aaranyak’s Natural Resource Management Program in the Kohora River Basin at Karbi Anglong, Assam.
A team from Arunachal Pradesh was jointly sponsored by Aaranyak through its Natural Resource Management Program and Legal and Advocacy Division (LAD). The team was invited to participate in a critical workshop organized by LAD at Aaranyak’s research office on January 9. The workshop focused on the formation of Community Surveillance and Monitoring Teams (CSMTs) in the fringe area of ​​D’Ering WL Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh. The objective of the workshop was to facilitate the community’s role in reducing wildlife crime.
The Arunachal Pradesh team, led by LAD officials Dr. Jimmy Borah and Ivy Farheen Hussain, was then taken to Aaranyak’s community-based natural resource management program in the Kohora river basin. This was done to give them an opportunity to experience a successful model of eco-tourism and later to use that experience to maintain Community Surveillance and Monitoring Teams (CSMTs) which D’Ering WL in Arunachal. are being constructed near the Sanctuary. Pradesh
An orientation on “Geo-Ecology, People and Culture of the Kohora River Basin” was conducted for the visiting team by Aaranyak’s Resource Person, Dr. Jayanta Kr. Roy and Sarlongjon Teron, for setting the tone for the exhibit’s journey. The team also participated in an activity called “Ingnam Kengkam” (Forest Walk) in Karbi, which allowed them to experience the richness of the natural environment.
The trekking exercise through community forests was led by Dr. M. Firoz Ahmad, a senior scientist at Aaranyak and Sanjit Bey, a local expert in the community.

Sanjit Bey enlightened the guests about wild edible and medicinal plants, and spiced up the conversation with folk tales. Dr. Ahmed complemented Bey’s efforts by providing scientific information and facilitating separate discussions on how to build ecotourism using local natural resources without investment.
After trekking, visitors are served a delicious traditional Karbi lunch cooked in bamboo bundles. A small display of products from Pirbi, a community-owned enterprise that sells farm and non-farm produce, was also on display.

EDC member and journalist Maksam Tayeng, who was part of the visiting team, said, “As a local member of the Adi tribe in Arunachal Pradesh, the guests learned about innovative ways to walk nature trails and cook locally. were inspired by the cuisine of Go. The style can be easily replicated in Arunachal Pradesh.
After lunch, guests were guided through Phumen Engti village by Aaranyak team member, Bhargavee Rava. Laki Beypi, a backstrap loom weaver, demonstrated her weaving process and enlightened guests on Kirby motifs and their significance.

In the evening the guests went to Engle Pathar village for tea. Meena Tokbipi, a local, guided guests through her home tea garden, explaining the process of plucking tea and making hand-rolled tea. He also served smoked tea to the guests.
In the evening, an interactive session on “Working with Forest Fringe Villages” was held at the Community Resource Center of Chondrosing Rongpi village. The session was facilitated by Jayantha Kumar Sharma, a senior resource person at Aaranyak. Sanjit Bey, Dhoniram Rongphar, and Bapu Ingati from the community also joined the session. Kaziranga National Park DFO Ramesh Kumar Gogoi also participated in the session and shared his experience and management techniques with D Ering’s team.
The exposure trip was made possible with the support of Aranayak team members Bhaskor Barukial, Deepika Chhetri, Joshna Terangpi, Rowel Engati, Mujameel Haque, and Ratul Das who helped facilitate the three-day ‘Journey for Learning’ event.

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