TURA: Villagers of one of the most remote village in Garo Hills, located on the border of Balpakram National Park, are being encouraged to ensure their virgin forests remain untouched to preserve nature and safeguard the environment.
A group of local conservation supporters from Tura under the aegis of A’chik Heritage Pursuits trekked to remote Rongcheng village, this week, taking a team of Garo Hills district Council (GHADC) officials to convince the villagers to declare their virgin forests into a reserve and register it with the council to avail benefits for the society.
To reach Rongcheng village, one has to trek for around six hours either through the thick forests of the Balpakram National Park or via Rongara-Chimitap or Jadi via Kallu.
According to the president of the A’chik Heritage Pursuits, Prakash Momin, the villagers were enthusiastic about the issue and agreed in principal to make efforts for the forest conservation.
Momin said that the support of the villagers for such a noble venture was a huge feather in the hat of wildlife conservation.
Revealing about the importance of the region, Prakash Momin said that the location of this village is such that it is nestled between Balpakram National Park and the Siju Wildlife Sanctuary, both extremely rich in flora and fauna deemed amongst the best in Garo Hills.
“Despite being denied all basic modern facilities like roads (the nearest road is at Kalu, a good eight kilometers away), health care (no ASHA here), electricity (the poles are just for show), basic school (LP with 21 students and UP school with 70 students, with just two teachers present), the villagers showed immense maturity in knowing the importance of preserving the forests for the future generations,” said the members of the A’chik Heritage Pursuits group.
They informed that efforts would be made for a future visit to raise awareness about their spartan lifestyle and ordeal to the world in the hope this information reaches out to more people that can make a change to their lives, for the better.