A two-day training on handloom for a group of human elephant conflict (HEC)-affected women from West Garo Hills district was conducted by the Aaranyak and British Asian Trust as part of an ambitious human-elephant coexistence initiative.
Twenty-seven women were benefited from the training that was conducted at Bordubi LP School. The training was aimed to build capacity and create livelihood opportunities for HEC-affected villagers so they could coexist with threatened Asian elephants.
“A training programme like this aims to equip women with the necessary skills so that they can sell their products in the competitive market and make sure that their products quality and design stand out from the rest. The focus is on creating unique designs that can add more value to their products and increase their profitability,” said a senior conservation scientist in Aaranyak Dr Bibhuti Prasad Lahkar said.
Nadeswar Deka, an expert in handloom was roped in to train the group of women on how to effectively market their products and augment their income by applying design principles.
Deka’s expertise and guidance enabled the women from Photamati, Bordubi, and Lower Kaersengdap villages to leverage their talents so they are empowered to supplement their livelihood.
Aaranyak in partnership with the British Asian Trust and with Biodiversity Challenge Funds, UK are working collaboratively with local and indigenous communities to promote coexistence between humans and elephants.
Meanwhile, Aaranyak held a consultation in collaboration with Tinsukia Press Club on ‘biodiversity conservation and human-wildlife coexistence’ last week. It was unanimously agreed that resolution of raging problem of human-elephant conflict (HEC) in the eastern Assam areas lie in restoration habitat and migration corridors.
While the mass awareness drive on human elephant coexistence, formation of early warning network called Rapid Response Units (RRU) in HEC-affected areas and installation of solar fence in certain areas of eastern Assam districts of Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Majuli, Sivasagar and Jorhat were appreciated, the participants viewed that that though these temporary measures would help mitigate the HEC, the last solution could be achieved is only through restoration of elephants habitats and migration corridors.
