With rising instances of man animal conflict there is still much work being done to intensify efforts for wildlife conservation in the country. Giving a glimpse of the efforts currently ongoing to save various species from extinction, Dr Vivek Menon, Executive Director of the Wildlife Trust of India on Friday said that conservation was not an unscalable task.
Delivering the Dr Vijayanand memorial lecture at Alliance Francaise, Dr Menon gave the audience a glimpse into success stories which have resulted in populations of a region abandoning age old systems in order to save species.
The talk included mentions of the Nyshi’S tribe in Arunachal Pradesh who were persuaded to stop hunting Hornbills for their beaks. “The Nyshis used to make caps with the beaks. It took us 7 years and less than `5 lakhs in order to create an interest in the people towards adopting artificial beaks made of fibre glass. We even convinced them to impose a fine of `5,000 on Hornbill hunters,” he said.
He also spoke about how efforts to rejuvenate Manas National Park in Assam, which had been declared as endangered by UNESCO resulted in a standing ovation in 2011 by the UNESCO.
“The Bodo’s had a guilt feeling about having destroyed a forest which they revered. We used this feeling of respect for the forest to garner support. Our efforts to involve local people and politicians resulted in almost 924 Sq KM of area being added to the park,” he said.
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