Press Coverage
Shillong Times
Shillong, 23 October 2006
Community engage in nature’s preservation
From Our Correspondent
TURA: Involving communities to participate in various events aimed at preserving nature is helping villagers to understand its importance and value. The recent celebration of the Wildlife Week by an NGO, Samrakshan Trust with villagers from three A'kings ( unit of land owned by a clan) in extreme Rongara area of South Garo Hills saw a large number of villagers keen to learn more about their natural surroundings and ways to prevent its destruction.
Events were conducted in three Akings during the first week of October 2006 to celebrate the 'Wildlife Week' – Halwa Atong, Alokpang and Panda Aking . A total of approximately 500 participants attended these events.
The idea, besides commemorating the event with the rest of the country – to protect wildlife, was to take the celebrations to places where the different forms of wildlife co-exist with community.
Each of these events had invigorating activities for the participants. The first activity "Match the Following" required the participants to link select specific species with their habitats on the print outs handed over to them. The second activity "A to Z of wildlife" required the participants to fill up the two blank spaces adjacent to each alphabet, with names of wildlife species beginning with that alphabet. Children and elders filled the sheets in English and Garo (local language) and even a mix of both with a cheerful banter. Some of them asked for extra blank sheets while others requested for sheets having "ready made answers".
The third and the final activity "Who Am I" required a volunteer who agreed to have a photo of a wildlife species struck on his back without being aware of the species. The volunteer then had to identify the species by asking questions to the participants who could answer only in "yes" or "no". This activity evoked maximum laughter and participation.
Many of the participants sought holding of such events in a larger scale in the coming years so as to create more awareness on the need to protect the fragile eco-system of the area.
Shillong Times
Shillong, 29 September 2006
Environment preservation by SHGs makes banks take notice
From Our Correspondent
Tura: Appreciating the efforts being put in by village Self Help Groups to earn a sustainable living while simultaneously preserving the fragile environment from getting destroyed further in the remote region of South Garo Hills, financial institutions have begun to sit up and take notice on the positive nature of the project and have begun to provide loans for more active participation in this field.
A function was held at NGO Samrakshan’s Baghmara premises on 23rd of this month to disburse loans sanctioned by the State Bank of India to eight Self Help Groups (SHGs). These SHGs from Akings in the Rongara Community Development Block of South Garo Hills, facilitated by Samrakshan, have been graded according to the prevailing norms and sanctioned total loans in excess of one lac rupees. The nuances associated with the loans were discussed at length.
A revised version of the “Attendance Register” printed by Samrakshan for the SHGs was distributed on the occasion. Besides a structured format for recording attendance the register also highlighted the importance of conserving the natural resources of the landscape.
Samrakshan members also shared the experiences of the invigorating exposure visit recently conducted for the villagers of Panda Aking to the project villages of NERCRMP in West Garo Hills.
Mr. I D Shira Project Director DRDA South Garo Hills, Ms M S Marak Block Development Officer Baghmara Community Development Block, Mr. K Saikia Branch Manager SBI Baghmara, Mr. S Sarkar Field Officer SBI Baghmara and Ms Nikina Sangma Gram Sevika Baghmara Community Development Block were present on the occasion and took the opportunity to interact with the SHG members.
The Telegraph
Guwahati, Nov. 2: 2005
Lessons for jumbo record-keepers- South Garo Hills residents to keep track of elephant movement
A STAFF REPORTER
Villagers will share information on the movement of elephants with development agencies to reduce man-animal conflict.
Samrakshan Trust, a Delhi-based wildlife NGO, is training local community members in the South Garo Hills district of Meghalaya to monitor elephant movement in their respective areas in an attempt to prevent man-animal conflict.
Nimesh Ved, the team leader of the Meghalaya field office of the organisation, said record-keepers, some of them women, have been appointed in five places in Rongara block of the South Garo Hills. “The idea behind the exercise is to obtain information in a structured manner about the areas, which are used by the elephants,” he said.
The entire area is under the Balpakram Baghmara Community Conservation Landscape. He said this information would be shared with various agencies to enable them to undertake development activities such as building schools and roads in such a manner that they do not come in conflict with the elephants. “This information will also help Samrakshan target its activities, leaving aside spaces that are critical for elephants while planning land use with the community,” he added.
Ved said this has become necessary in view of lack of accurate and exhaustive information on the presence, distribution and patterns of habitat use by elephants within the Landscape.
“The lack of accurate information about elephants impedes our ability to identify spaces that are critical for elephants and as a corollary, hinders us from strategically targeting our activities to secure such spaces on a priority basis,” Ved said.
The entire exercise was decided after consultations with Christy Williams and M.D. Madhusudan, wildlife biologists, who have visited Samrakshan’s field area and have been advising on technical conservation biology aspects.
The record-keepers have been given exercise books with a prescribed format to record data. “Our team members visit each record-keeper every fortnight and collate the information that has been gathered,” he added.
Ved said in order to streamline this exercise and lend it greater uniformity, a training programme and interaction session was held for all the record-keepers which would help the participants understand the rationale behind this exercise.
“We also screen films like Nagarahole — Tales from an Indian Jungle by Shekar Dattatri with some portions of the film having to be translated for better comprehension. The film brought forth the participants’ sensitivity on issues pertaining to wildlife and and set the tone for the day. During the course of the film itself, they began discussing various wild animals they saw in the film, their local names and whether they were seen in their region,” Ved said.
The AssamTribune
Guwahati, Monday, August 29, 2005
NORTH EAST
Pachyderm movement in Garo Hills being monitored
From Our Correspondent
TURA, Aug 28 – With a view to preserving the traditional routes of elephants in the densely forested South Garo Hills district and prevent encroachment by humans on their habitat, a non-governmental organisation has taken up the strenous work of monitoring their areas of movement.
It is expected that such monitoring, in the long run, will be resulting in man and animal living side by side without any form of conflict. People residing in the areas that elephants use as their route for centuries in South Garo Hills are now being given training on the importance of elephant monitoring by a team from the environmental NGO Samrakshan Trust.
The monitoring activity consists of appointing a “record-keeper” in each A’king land who records details pertaining to elephant presence in their respective A’king. The project is presently underway since August 4. The record-keepers have been provided with note books and a prescribed format for recording the data. Team members from Samrakshan Trust would visit each record-keeper every fortnight and collect the information that has been gathered.
As a pilot activity, this exercise is presently being undertaken in five A’kings, namely, Amapangre, Alokpang, Halwa Atong, Gongrot and Panda. The Trust intends to eventually expand its scope to all thirty-three A’kings that constitute the Balpakram Baghmara Community Conservation Landscape (BBCCL).
The idea to have such a monitoring in place in the Balpakram Baghmara Community Conservation Landscape is part of the Samrakshan’s community mobilisation for elephant habitat conservation. This has become necessary in view of lack of accurate and exhaustive information on presence, distribution and patterns of habitat use by elephants within the BBCCL. The lack of such information prevents the optimization of the conservation benefits from social outreach activities since the targeting of these interventions becomes somewhat inaccurate.
The lack of accurate information about elephants has inhibited one’s ability to identify spaces that are critical for elephants.
Shillong Times
Shillong, Tuesday 12th July 2005.
By Our Reporter
In an era in which the green habitat is fast depleting around the north east and the wild animals are moving at a fast pace towards extinction, there continue to remain pockets of resistance against environmental degradation. People, particularly villagers, are becoming aware to the need to preserve their forests and wildlife against the onslaught of big companies and organizations who come to strip the green cover in the name of development. One such place is Gongrot Aking in South Garo Hills where the villagers have taken upon themselves to shoulder the responsibility of preserving nature at its best. Gongrot Aking, clan land, shares borders with Balpakram National Park to its north and consists of fifty households.
The exemplary sensitivity of the people from this Aking towards conserving their natural wealth ought to be well lauded. One of the families from the Aking Mikila M Sangma and Mrs Ebal G Momin recently caught a slow loris, nycticebus bengalensis, photo enclosed, from a nearby jhum field, that the primate had strayed into. The primate, locally known as gilwe, was kept as a pet in a small bamboo cage in the household. Members of an ngo working in the area for preserving the environment impressed upon the family of the importance of getting the animal back to its natural habitat. Realising its urgency, the family along with the NGO members released it inside the Balpakram National Park at night.
In another incident the youth from the Aking, undertook the responsibility of informing the forest officials, about the presence of an injured elephant near their Aking. Though the elephant died, the forest officials were able to conduct the post mortem on the pachyderm with the cooperation of the youth from the area.
Pic: Dr. M D Madhusudan
The Assam Tribune
Guwahati, Tuesday, November 23, 2004
CITY
City Outline
Garo version of manual on pachyderms released: The Centre for Environment Education (CEE) North-East in collaboration with Samrakshan Trust Baghmara field office in South Garo Hills of Meghalaya jointly released the Garo version of Elephant manual – Nature Scope India – Endangered Elephant. This was released on the occasion of Children’s Day function jointly organised by Deputy Inspector of Schools, and Deputy Commissioner, South Garo Hills, Baghmara at Rangku Memmorial Secondary School, Baghmara, stated a release here. The manual was developed by CEE North-East as part of the educational package under the United States Fish and Wildlife supported project ‘School Education to Support Asian Elephant Conservation.’ This project includes the design, development and production of educational materials, and the implementations of an intensive Asian elephant environmental education programme in schools, targeted primarily at students of age group 10 to 14 years, and through them to the larger community. The manual meant for the teachers’ community aims not only to provide information and various facets of Asian elephant conservation, but also suggests ways in which teachers can effectively communicate this to students. Daniel S Marak, ex-Chairman of Municipality Board and T Dkhar, Deputy Commissioner, South Garo Hills, Baghmara, released the manual. Earlier speaking on the importance of Children’s Day at the function, T Dkhar also highlighted the significance of elephant and the various issues related to man-elephant conflict, habitat fragmentation and the need for elephant conservation etc in South Garo Hills, Baghmara. Pradeep Boro of CEE North-East, gave a brief presentation on Asian elephant and its conservation and also mentioned about the Garo version of elephant bool brought out by CEE North-East. Copies of the elephant manual and other environment education books developed by CEE North-East were also distributed, the release added.
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