Guwahati, Sept 9: Commending the 35-year-long landmark journey of premier research-based biodiversity conservation organization Aaranyak, Assam minister for Education and Tribal Affairs (Plain) Dr Ranoj Pegu today said that such a robust NGO can be of great significance for the government to achieve primary goals for human wellbeing.
Addressing the valedictory function of the year-long 35th Anniversary celebration of Aaranyak (www.aaranyak.org) at the NEDfi House here as the chief guest, Dr Pegu said, “It is an occasion of pride for not only the Team Aaranyak, but also the people that the NGO has completed such an eventful journey in the service of conservation of environment and the grassroots people.”
“The government and people of Assam pin a lot of hopes on Aaranyak to undertake awe-inspiring works in the days to come particularly in key sectors like mitigation of human elephant conflict (HEC) to facilitate coexistence, wetlands and grasslands conservation for moderation of flood and erosion. Aaranyak has to really help in conservation of wetlands and connected water streams in the state at this juncture,” said the minister who is known for his avid interest in environment conservation, bird watching and wildlife photography.
Saying that having a strong corporate sector and a robust NGO sector were pivotal for any government to facilitate rapid overall development of a country, Dr Pegu rued that NGO sector in the country has lagged far behind the corporate sector in this regard and ‘Aaranyak is like a silver lining in this context’.
Addressing the occasion as the Guest of Honour, Chairman of Pollution Control Board, Assam, Dr Arup Kumar Misra lauded the dedicated and sustained contributions of Aaranyak towards environment and wildlife conservation as well as science communication. “There is big difference between ‘being good’ and ‘doing good’. Aaranyak has been doing tremendously good,” he said while tracing back his long association with the organization over the 35 years.
The landmark event was grace by a host of dignitaries including former senior Assam Government and Forest Department officials including Dr Anwaruddin Choudhury, M C Malakar, Dr Abhijit Rabha, Narayan Mahanta.
Earlier in his welcome address Aaranyak’s president Er. Ranjan Bhuyan mentioned about highlights of Aaranyak’s journey so far including awards and recognitions showered on the organization and its conservation leaders especially the recent recognition of wildlife genetics laboratory of the organization and its expert by Government of Assam. He said the organization remained committed to complement the efforts of the government for conservation of nature and biodiversity.
Secretary General of Aaranyak, Dr Bibhab Kumar Talukdar made a presentation highlighting recent multi-dimensional achievements of the organisation in fields like threatened species (pigmy hog) recovery, wildlife genetics, GIS for conservation, radio collaring of wild elephants, collaboration with various wings of the government like paramilitary forces, police, forest department, VDPs, grassroots communities, student and women etc. in pursuit of its avowed goals.
The event was marked by unveiling of a book titled “Wild Realms- 35 years with nature and people” brought out by Aaranyak on the occasion.
Grassroots Conservation Awards 2025 were conferred by the dignitaries in the event. The awards in Individual Category were presented to Lakshman Teron, Arup Shandilya, Pranjal Talukdar and Tunu Basumatary While the awards in Group Category was presented to Khonoma Nature Conservation and Tragopan Sanctuary (KNCTS), Nagaland. The Award presentation was anchored by Dr Dipankar Lahkar, a senior conservation biologist of Aaranyak.
All the cyclists who took part on Aaranyak’s ‘Ride for Conservation’ as part of the 35th Anniversary Celebrations were also felicitated on the occasion while leader of the cyclist expedition and convenor of the ‘Ride for Conservation’ Arif Hussain, a senior Aaranyak official, made a detailed presentation of the 1500 km route covered by the ride covering all the eight national parks, five wildlife sanctuaries and two Reserve Forest in the state since March 2025.
The Organising Secretary of Aaranyak and Convenor of the Core Committee on 35th Anniversary Celebrations Udayan Borthakur apprised the select gathering through a presentation on how the entire Team Aaranyak worked in absolute cohesion in various areas to make the year-long celebrations a grand success. He appreciated the frontline TV channel News18 Assam (NE) for being the media partner of the year-long celebrations.
