Kohima: In order to conserve wildlife across national boundaries, a new trans-boundary project to increase wildlife connectivity between North East and Myanmar is on the anvil, supported by the Integrated Tiger Habitat Conservation Programme and sponsored by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
According to a release today the project is a science-based conservation effort spearheaded by Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) India Programme and WCS Myanmar, the WCS India, along with the Nagaland Wildlife and Biodiversity Conservation Trust and the WCS of Myanmar have collaboratively initiated a long-term vision, reconnecting tiger and other wildlife populations in the Indo-Myanmar region.
As wildlife densities are low due to different threats such as poaching and habitat loss, WCS said it was working with the Myanmar Government to increase the numbers of threatened species such as tigers. The release said quoting Varun Goswami, Senior Scientist at WCS India, who is leading these efforts.
“Such large-scale wildlife movement is impossible without the support of people living in this region. Our focus is to help animals move while safeguarding the lives and livelihoods of people. Community-based conservation is the foundation of our project.There is little knowledge on where the animals are and where they move. To obtain this information, WCS India will undertake large-scale surveys to assess wildlife distribution,” added Goswami.
Divya Vasudev, connectivity expert from WCS India said, “Animals don’t always move through corridors we demarcate for them but use routes they view as least threatening. Where do animals disperse? What prevents them from dispersing? These are the questions that are most important for connectivity conservation.”
WCS pointed out that conservation of umbrella species like the tiger would safeguard the health of entire ecosystems and the people who live within them. (UNI)
