Villagers in Arunachal declare forest area as conservation

People of Chug village in Arunachal Pradesh's West Kameng district have declared nearly 100 sq km of their forest area as conservation area and banned commercial extraction of timber and firewood from the area.

The villagers have also banned hunting of wild animals from the forest area, the Chug village head said.

The area was recently surveyed by World Wide Fund for Nature India (WWF-India) to study the biodiversity using camera trap and sign survey where nearly 18 mammals, 21 birds and 6 butterflies were found which includes rare and endangered species like Red panda, Takin, Musk deer, Himalayan Monal and Satyr Tragopan.

With the support of scientific research and data, a management plan would be made and put in practice by the villagers that would guide them for extraction and usage of natural resources of the forest area in a sustainable way to save for future generation, a WWF official said.

WWF senior project officer Pema Wange said, "We are exploring livelihood activities for the villagers which will be an incentive for conservation of forest and wildlife. The important animals such as Red panda, Takin, Musk deer and Asiatic Black bear have to be conserved as their existence will ensure our existence possible."