Guwahati, May 13: A series of One Health awareness and sensitization programmes conducted during May
9 to 11 in the fringe villages adjoining Gorajan Forest Range of Laokhowa–Burachapori Wildlife Sanctuary
(LBWLS) in Assam’s Nagaon district covered nearly 200 livestock farmers and villagers.
The programme has set a much bigger target to engage more than 2,000 farmers through awareness and
livestock vaccination support programmes in the coming phase.
The programme was conducted by premier biodiversity conservation organisation Aaranyak
(www.aaranyak.org) in collaboration with WWF-India, the District Veterinary Office, Nagaon and Nagaon
Wildlife Division of Assam Forest Department and with support for International Rhino Foundation (IRF)
and Disney.
The initiative was carried out with the cooperation of local institutions and stakeholders including the
Laokhowa Burachapori Conservation Society (LBCS), Press Club Juria, Eco Development Committees
(EDCs), Village Heads (Gaon Burhas) local forest staff, and representatives from the Veterinary
Department.
The programmes were conducted across villages of Sutirpar area, Kathalguti, Kachari Gaon, and Nama
Kalidinga.
The programme highlighted the importance of the One Health approach, which recognises the inter-
connection between human health, livestock health, wildlife health, and ecosystem health.
In ecologically sensitive landscapes such as the fringe areas of protected wildlife habitats, poor livestock
health management and uncontrolled disease transmission can pose serious risks not only to local
communities and domestic animals but also to wild herbivores and other wildlife populations.
Effective preventive healthcare, surveillance, and community awareness is, therefore , critical for reducing
the risks of outbreak of zoonotic diseases and ensuring coexistence between humans and wildlife.
During the awareness and sensitization sessions, villagers and livestock farmers were encouraged to adopt
scientific and sustainable livestock management practices, with special emphasis on regular livestock
vaccination, timely deworming, farm hygiene and sanitation, biosecurity measures in livestock rearing, safe
disposal of diseased or dead animals, and community-based disease surveillance and reporting systems in
villages adjoining protected areas.
In addition to awareness activities, the team also carried out a questionnaire-based community survey among
40 livestock farmers to better understand livestock management practices and local awareness related to
disease prevention and animal health.
A major outcome of the initiative was the collective resolution adopted by participating villagers and
stakeholders for supporting regular livestock vaccination drives and disease surveillance measures in fringe
villages surrounding the sanctuary.
