Shillong, Sep 26: Fifteen forest guards from Assam, Meghalaya and Nagaland attended a week-long residential training programme on Western Hoolock Gibbon conservation at the Gibbon Conservation Centre in Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary, Mariani.
It was the first time frontline staff from the three states came together for a dedicated Hoolock gibbon conservation training. The programme was organised by Aaranyak in collaboration with the Jorhat Forest Division, Assam Forest Department, with support from The Habitats Trust and the IUCN Primate Specialist Group.
Held from September 19 to 25, the training aimed to strengthen field-level conservation of India’s only ape, which faces threats from poaching, encroachment and habitat fragmentation.
The programme combined classroom sessions with field exercises covering biodiversity conservation, primate census and population estimation, field data collection, floristic studies, habitat restoration, rescue and rehabilitation, GPS use and wildlife laws. Trainees undertook field observations across five tracks over five days.
The training was inaugurated by Dr. Dilip Chetry, Director and Head of the Primate Research and Conservation Division, Aaranyak, and Vice Chair of the IUCN Primate Specialist Group, South Asia.
Sessions were led by Dr. I.C. Baruah of Assam Agricultural University, former Deputy Conservator of Forest Gunin Saikia, Dr. Prabal Sarkar of USTM, and Aaranyak members Avisekh Sarkar, Simanta Medhi, Nandita Medhi, Dr. Khanin Changmai and Dr. Chetry.
