Shillong: Fourteen village elders from five villages of Hima Malai Sohmat, West Khasi Hills, recently went on a two-day exposure visit (Nov 6-7) to Khonoma Nature Conservation and Tragopan Sanctuary Trust (KNCTST) in Nagaland. This initiative is part of the effort of the five villages of Hima Malai Sohmat to start a movement for conserving the natural habitat of the Hoolock Gibbon found within their village boundaries.
They were taken there by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH as part of the Climate Change Adaptation, North Eastern Region Project, being implemented in the states of Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Sikkim, under the aegis of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region.
The objective of the visit was to expose the village elders of Malai Sohmat to the various initiatives undertaken by the KNCTS in its effort to declare a huge tract of forest as a community managed wildlife sanctuary.
This is aimed at encouraging village institutions in Malai Sohmat to initiate similar strategies to promote the conservation of natural habitat of the Hoolock Gibbon.
The village elders were informed of the plans put in place by the Khonoma Trust and the initial challenges faced by KNCTST in efforts to get the community to agree on the need to restrict hunting and collection of resources from the forest.
A proposal was made to expose the present community of Khonoma to the concept of Sacred Groves of Meghalaya and learning the art of constructing living root bridges was also mooted.
Kenneth Pala, Senior Advisor and Regional Coordinator, GIZ, spoke on the benefits of conservation, both at the community, household and individual level through promotion of ecotourism.
Besides the series of interaction and in-depth discussions, the group were taken for a village walk around Khonoma Village, a trek to the alder farms and visit to Dzüleke. The keenness of the visitors from West Khasi Hills to initiate a similar strategy for conservation was well appreciated by the members of the KNCTS.
The group were given a warm welcome by Niketu Iralu, a prominent social worker, Khriekhoto Mor, Chairman, KNCTS, Neisamezo Pier, Chairman, Khonoma Village Council, Tsilie Sakhrie, Advisor, Khonoma Nature Conservation and Tragopan Sanctuary and members of the Khonoma Village Council. Supong Aier, Chief Conservator of Forest, Government of Nagaland and Kenneth M. Pala, Senior Advisor and Regional Coordinator, GIZ were part of the team.
