Nagaland Forest Guards from Intanki National Park, Nagaland Zoological Park as well as various district wildlife divisions during the inaugural day of the third batch of Hoolock Gibbon Conservation Training Programme at SEFTI Dimapur on May 11.
Dimapur, May 11 (MExN): The third batch of 'Hoolock Gibbon Conservation Training Programme for Forest Guards in Nagaland' kicked off on May 11 at the State Environment and Forestry Training Institute (SEFTI), Dimapur.
A total of 25 forest guards from Intanki National Park, Nagaland Zoological Park, Dimapur Wildlife Division, Dimapur, Phek, Mon, Zunheboto, Peren, Wokha, Tuensang Forest Division, and WPO Kohima of Nagaland are attending the training programme.
Inaugurating the training, SEFTI Director, M Shakiba Yimchunger, noted that such training is “unique” for Nagaland and would help to build the capacity of forest guards in conservation of Hoolock gibbon.
“It is our moral responsibility to save the species for our next generation,” he added.
Dr Dilip Chetry, the Head, Primate Research & Conservation Initiatives of Aaranyak, a society for Biodiversity conservation in North-East India, while welcoming the trainees urged the forest guards to enhance their knowledge of conservation of Hoolock Gibbon in particular and biodiversity in general.
SEFTI Deputy Director, Obed B Swu also addressed the inaugural session.
Hoolock Gibbon habitat
As per a press release from the Aaranyak, the Western Hoolock Gibbon (Hoolock hoolock) distribution in India is limited to the seven states of North-East India on the southern bank of the Dibang-Brahmaputra river system.
Nagaland is one of the potential habitat of the endangered species but unfortunately habitat fragmentation and hunting are the major threats to gibbons in India, it said.
The lack of basic information and poor conservation awareness about the species in different sections of the people including the frontline staff of the Nagaland Forest Department is also another hindrance, it added.
Keeping this fact in view and to generate conservation tempo in the States of Nagaland, Aaranyak, which described itself as a Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation with a mission of carrying out research, training and conservation activities in the NE, has designed series of “Training of Forest Guard for the Conservation of Hoolock Gibbon in Nagaland.”
For the current project, it collaborated with Nagaland Forest Department with support from US Fish & Wildlife Service.
The week-long residential training course, among others, will cover topics such as biodiversity, primates conservation with special reference to Hoolock gibbon, Gibbon Census or Population estimation, Gibbon Data collection, maintaining & reporting, Techniques of Floristic study.
Combining, daily lectures and field exercises, the course had provided earlier participants with an initial understanding of the basic principles of Primatology, experience with the methods and techniques used in field research, the release added.
