Assam: Aaranyak organises exposure visits for human-elephant conflict-affected communities

"An exposure visit was conducted from April 4 to 7 for the "Village Champions" (VCs), local community members from villages affected by human-elephant conflict (HEC) in eastern Assam and West Garo Hills in Meghalaya, within the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong landscape of Assam," as per a release from Aaranyak.

This exposure visit was conducted from April 4 to 7 and was facilitated by a community-based eco-cultural tourism initiative under the "Journey for Learning".

"The VCs are trained community members who facilitate Aaranyak and British Asian Trust's initiative to bolster human-elephant coexistence through a bottom-up approach of community empowerment and monitoring HEC, supported by the Darwin Initiative," the release read.

The VCs' participation in implementing the project is remarkable, and to recognize their support and cooperation, we organised this exposure trip to further build their capacity to contribute to conservation.

"A team of 11 VCs, along with the Aaranyak project team, took part in this educational tour that began with an ecocultural village walk in the villages of Phumen Engti and Hemai Lekthe of Karbi Anglong, followed by another forest trek in Ingnam Kengkam," the release read.

During this visit, the team interacted with the indigenous Karbi community on the eco-tourism model, agroforestry, sericulture, and handloom and handicraft practices. The team also had an interesting interaction on the experiential Karbi-way of cooking in bamboo nodes.

"The following day, a morning safari to Kaziranga National Park was conducted for the team to witness the rich biodiversity and management practices to secure the ecosystem. Thereafter, another important session of interaction with local entrepreneurs through "Pirbi"- a community-led business to understand how the local knowledge and products help in sustainable livelihood sources for the local communities," the release read.

Moreover, the team paid a visit to a community nursery as well as the Orchid and Biodiversity Park.

"This exposure trip has made a significant impact on the VCs as this was the first time they got a vivid idea on the concept of eco-tourism and how community-led initiatives are crucial for protecting biodiversity and ensuring the well-being of people," the release read.

Aaranyak's officials, Dr Jayanta Roy, Bhaskar Barukial, Sunny Paul, Beauty Terangpi, Rangsina Phangso, Stephen Takbi (volunteer), Kristi Borah and Nayam Ali (intern), facilitated the entire exposure trip.