Guwahati, June 3: In a well-attended interaction with media professionals on ‘human elephant conflict (HEC) mitigation for coexistence’ organized at Teok in Jorhat district of Assam on Sunday, resource persons from Northeast India’s premier biodiversity conservation organization Aaranyak highlighted its on-going community-centric HEC mitigation works in certain HEC affected area in the district while underlining media’s role as a catalyst in HEC mitigation efforts.
The media interaction, organized by Aaranyak and British Asian Trust with support from Darwin Initiative, was participated by several journalists under the banner of Teok Press Club and Kakojan (East Jorhat) Press Club besides a few community leaders from HEC-affected villages in the area.
Taking part in the interaction Aaranyak’s Publicity Secretary and Executive Committee Member Bijay Sankar Bora made an elaborate presentation flagging the important role play by the media in creating awareness among the HEC-affected community on how to respond to and cooperate with mitigation measures undertaken for facilitating coexistence between villagers and elephants which are considered agents for enriching biodiversity and generation of new forests, the a typical HEC situation.
He urged the media to drum up persistently ‘Dos and Don’ts’ to be observed by people in an HEC-affected areas so that loss to property and lives could be avoided as much as possible.
Aaranyak’s Senior Project Officer Rubul Tanti through his presentation enlightened the participating media professionals and community members regarding the current HEC scenario in the region and the research-driven and multi-stakeholders-oriented mitigation works undertaken by the Aaranyak so far for facilitating coexistence.
He explained every effective HEC mitigation measures in detail and underlined how cooperation from the community and mass media is important for success of such endeavours.
Aaranyak’s Assistant Manager and Coordinator, Eastern Assam Zone, Zakir Islam Bora set the tone for the interaction through a lucid presentation on various aspects Aaranyak which has completed 35 years, as an organization and its footprint in the region.
Niranjan Bhuyan, Community Coordinator of Aaranyak during interaction with media highlighted how credible mass media can play the role of catalysts to elicit cooperation from the community and other stakeholders towards coexistence-focused HEC mitigation measures.
Earlier, in her welcome address, Aaranyak’s Environmental Educator, Rimpee Moran, explained objective of organizing the media interaction.
Several senior and reputed media professionals attending the interaction lauded Aaranyak’s efforts for HEC mitigation and biodiversity conservation in general for such a long period of 35 years and pledged support to organisation’s current HEC-mitigation project works in Jorhat district.
Aaranyak’s field staff Ananta Dutta, Lakhinath Taid and Chiranjib Kalita helped organized the media interaction successfully.
