Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh
With a distinctive fluty call, a diminutive bird with a striking olive green plumage flew out of the tree in the forests fringing Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, West Kameng district, Arunachhal Pradesh. Astronomer and bird watcher Ramana Athreya watched with quickening breath, as this bird, which is found only in these forests, had not been sighted since 1995.
The Bugun liocichla in Nagaland’s Eaglenest Sanctuary
The indigenous Bugun tribe has ownership of these forests and, in their honour, the bird is named Bugun liocichla . This 17 sqkm community reserve is home to several threatened species including the red panda, golden cat and marbled cat. Youngsters of the tribe, along with the Arunachal Pradesh Forest Department, jointly patrol the forest and help with rescue and rehabilitation apart from promoting eco-tourism initiatives.
Yaongyimchen Community Biodiversity Conservation Area, Nagaland
A file photo of Amur falcon
In Nagaland’s Longleng district, 350 households of the Phom tribe from three villages — Yaongyimchen, Alayong and Sanglu — have transformed around 10 km of forest into a wildlife refuge. They are the catalysts for preserving and protecting the biodiversity without government assistance. The Yaongyimchen Community Biodiversity Conservation Area (YCBCA) is home to 85 species of birds, 15 species of frogs, leopards, barking deer, serow and otter. Today, it is the largest roosting area for Amur falcons.
Dugave, Karnataka
For the last three years, villagers in this village in the Konkan region of Ratnagiri district have taken it upon themselves to protect the pangolin. They worship it and believe it is blessed and protected by their goddess Waghjai.
A file photo of a Pangolin
To them, the pangolin is the farmer’s friend and plays an important role in preserving the ecosystem. This year, they celebrated Khawalotsav on World Pangolin Day, February 15. The pangolin is under threat because of poaching, trafficking and international trade.
Chennai, Tamil Nadu
In this coastal city, efforts to save the Olive Ridley turtle began in the early 1970s. In 1988, the Student’s Sea Turtle Conservation Network (SSTCN) was formed. The Tamil name Panguni aamai refers to the fact that the creature comes ashore to nest in the month of Panguni (mid-March to mid-April), when members of the SSTCN patrol the beaches at night, collect the turtle eggs, relocate them to a safer place and finally release the hatchlings into the sea.
A file photo of a newly hatched baby Olive Ridley crawling towards the sea.
Interestingly, the hatchlings are released a few metres away from the waterline so that they can geo-map the location into their memories. This helps them come back to the same beach to lay eggs. Commercial fishing, large-scale trawling and dredging, changing beachscape and artificial lighting are some of the causes for the decline in turtle numbers.
