EDC members of D. Ering WLS visits Karbi Anglong, Kaziranga NP to learn on community based tourism
PASIGHAT- The Eco-Development Committee (EDC) members of D. Ering Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary comprising of its executive members and Gaon Burahs along with few officials of the sanctuary visited Kaziranga National Park and nearby Karbi village in Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council to learn about the community based tourism and natural resource management.
The 10 member team led by T. Taga, DFO, D. Ering WLS and M. Tayeng, EDC head visited the Karbi villages in a 4 day exposure tour cum a one day orientation meeting. In the exposure programme, the team from D. Ering WLS learnt about the community mobilization, community engagement, NRM and conservation livelihood, principle of community based eco-cultural tourism with reference to KRB experiments. The team from D. Ering also visited the traditional Karbi villages and interacted with the Homestay owners to start the same in D. Ering WLS and also learnt about the household making handmade tea and its processing etc. The visit to Karbi villages like Chandrasing Rongpi, Phumen Engti, Hemai Lakthe and Bakring Engti and their success on Homestay operation from the tourism coming out of Kaziranga National Park and Orchid Park of Kohra were a worthwhile experience for the team of D. Ering WLS.
The team also visited the Kohra, central range of Kaziranga in Gypsy safari and also interacted with the officials of Kaziranga National Park. While talking to the team of D. Ering WLS, the DFO Kaziranga, Ramesh Gogoi shared the challenges faced by the officials and field staffs of Kaziranga and how the similar techniques and plans could be used in controlling challenges in the D. Ering WLS.
Earlier on 9th January, the team attended in a orientation meeting organized by legal and advocacy division (LAD) of scientific and industrial research organisation Aaranyak which has chalked out a pilot strategy to set up community surveillance and monitoring teams (CSMT) to facilitate community participation in the conservation process as well as wildlife crime prevention in and around the D. Ering WLS. The team from D. Ering Wildlife has extended their thankfulness to the team Aaranyak led by its CEO, Bibhab Kumar Talukdar for extending their full support in improving the eco-tourism and community surveillance and monitoring in and around the D. Ering WLS.
It is to add here that, despite the D. Ering WLS being around 45 years old by today after its official notification in the year 1978, the sanctuary hasn’t been useful for its fringe villages due to unrestricted hunting and poaching in the sanctuary. No tourism and benefits to villagers surrounding the sanctuary were initiated by the sanctuary management till date. But after the sanctuary has been improved from its basic protection, the eco-tourism measures are now being taken up so that the local community also earns their livelihood from the tourism flow in the sanctuary at the lines of Kaziranga National park. The livelihood support to the local community from the tourism flow in the sanctuary will directly and indirectly help in protection of the sanctuary in days to come.
